If you receive this and you hate it and you don’t want to ever read it no matter what...that is fine; email me back and you will be deleted from my list (which is almost at the maximum anyway).

I attempt to post a new issue each Sunday by 5 or 6 pm central standard time (I sometimes fail at this attempt).

I try to include factual material only, along with my opinions (it should be clear which is which). I make an attempt to include as much of this week’s news as I possibly can. The first set of columns are intentionally designed for a quick read.

I do not accept any advertising nor do I charge for this publication. I write this principally to blow off steam in a nation where its people seemed have collectively lost their minds.

And if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, always remember: We do not struggle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12).

Speaker of the House John Boehner, Senate leader Harry Reid and President Barack Obama came to an agreement over the 2010–2011 budget for the remainder of the year. This is the budget which was never passed back in October through December of 2010. This is an agreement of the leaders, but it is not a done deal. Also passed was a temporary funding measure for the next 5 or so days, until this budget can be agreed to by an official vote. In the past, such an agreement between leaders usually indicated the end of this matter. This may or may not be the case this time around. Looming all of this time has been a government shutdown, which was averted in the last hour by this agreement. However, if this budget does not pass, then a government shutdown is still possible. TEA party members are unhappy with this new budget because there were not enough cuts.

At least 3 House Democrats are fasting over these Draconian cuts (Jan Schakowsky, Barbara Lee, and Keith Ellison). Each one is fasting for a day.

3 Republicans on the House Ways and Means committee have sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service calling for an investigation into the tax-exempt status of AARP.

Part of the agreement is, Senators must vote on Obamacare and on funding Planned Parenthood. This deal also requires several studies that will force the Obama administration to disclose the full impact of the law's mandates, including a study on the cost of premiums; an audit of all the waivers given to businesses and unions that can't meet the new annual coverage limits; and a report on all of the contractors who have been hired to implement the law and the cost of those contracts to taxpayers.

During the budget talks, the Obama Administration overturned the old OMB directive and has decided to suspend military paychecks if there is a government shutdown.

Coming up is the 2011–2012 budget, and the first shot over the bow was fired last Sunday by House Republican Paul Ryan, who has put forth a budget which does not eliminate the deficit, but reduces it considerably (by trillions). The looming event this time out is the debt ceiling limit, which will be reached this year. Many TEA party types are threatening now to raise the current debt ceiling without substantial budget changes.

John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, is suing the government over the looming shutdown. He wants the government to provide a clear plan to federal employees and, on TV to FoxNews, he was demanding that the entire government shut down—everything.

Glenn Beck revealed that he was ending his show sometime in the next few months. Apparently there was a drop off of viewers and there have been continued attacks against his sponsors. Whether that is part of the reason, I do not know.

26 rockets and mortars fired from the Gaza strip into Israel. Israeli air strike takes out Hamas military commander and at least one gunman.

Beijing police on Sunday detained dozens of worshippers from an unapproved Christian church who were trying to hold services in a public space after they were evicted from their usual place of worship, a parishioner said. Christians may worship in state-approved churches, but other churches are subject to some harassment by the authorities.

The United States is spending $20 million taxpayer dollars to fund a Pakistani remake of the popular TV children's show Sesame Street.

Afghans are still protesting Terry Jones’ burning of the Koran. No killing this time, however.

A 75-year old lady from Georgia (the country, not the state) has perpetrated an impressive feat of international sabotage in what seems to have been an accident of extremely bad luck. While foraging for copper wire near her home in the village of Ksani, the unnamed septuagenarian managed to come across a critical fiber optic cable, one responsible for serving internet connectivity to "90 percent of private and corporate internet users in Armenia" and some in her own country as well. Her swift strike at the heart of said bit-transferring pipeline resulted in all those folks being thrown offline for a solid 12 hours, while the Georgian Railway Telecom worked to find and correct the fault. In spite of her relatively benign motivations, the lady now faces three years in prison for the damage she caused. Her reaction: “I don’t know what the internet is.”

It appears as if the federal government acting through the Federal Reserve essentially sent out $3.3 trillion throughout the world. This appears to simply be made-up money.

Investigators for the House Energy and Commerce Committee have discovered that a little-known provision in the national health care law has allowed the federal government to pay nearly $2 billion to unions, state public employee systems, and big corporations to subsidize health coverage costs for early retirees. At the current rate of payment, the $5 billion appropriated for the program could be exhausted well before it is set to expire.

In Lakeville, Minnesota, the school board recently announced wrenching cuts of almost $7 million. Ninety-four teachers will lose their jobs, arts programs will suffer and a school will be closed. However, the Lakeville schools are sending a delegation of teachers to the 12^th annual "White Privilege Conference" at the Bloomington Sheraton from Aug. 13-16. The district is shelling out $160 a pop - plus $125 a day for teacher subs - for this "white guilt" festival.

Wisconsin's State Supreme Court race looks like it will go to David Prosser rather than to Big Labor candidate, Joanne Kloppenburg. Labor sunk a lot of time, money and effort into this election.

Kunio Shiga must have felt like the last man on earth. The feeble 75-year-old was discovered stranded alone in his small farmhouse on Friday, surrounded by fallen trees, dead pigs and garbage strewn by the deadly March 11 tsunami in Japan. He doesn't know where his wife is, and his neighbors have all fled his city of Minami Soma because it's within the 12-mile zone of a radiation-leaking plant. Authorities had ordered evacuations but Shiga, who has trouble walking, and was unable to leave. "You are the first people I have spoken to" since the earthquake and tsunami, Shiga told the Associated Press.

Chris Matthews on Barack Obama: “You know sometimes, Gene, he has that - he didn't have it right there - but a minute ago he had that great, that little boy smile of his, which is so winning...He brings it out.”

Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough "We don't make decisions about questions like intervention based on consistency or precedent. We make them based on how we can best advance our interests in the region."

Charles Schumer: "The dangerous, ideological cuts to Planned Parenthood that passed the House are never, never, never going to pass the Senate. Let me repeat that, so all those who want to stomp on women's health and women's rights can hear us loud and clear. The dangerous, ideological cuts to Planned Parenthood that passed the House are never, never, never going to pass the Senate."

Senator Harry Reid: "Republicans are asking me to sacrifice my wife's health, my daughter's health and my nine granddaughters' health. I'm not going to be part of that. I won't do it. As a legislator I'm very frustrated. As an American I'm appalled; as a husband, a father and a grandfather I'm personally offended."

Senator Harry Reid: "This is Virginia's big weekend. It's the cherry blossom, the cherry blossom festival. People plan to come here all year, and one of the things they want to do when they come here is take a walk down the Mall, go to the National Art Gallery, go to one of the great Smithsonian museums. Won't do that, they'll close at 12:00 tonight. All of this to stop women from getting the regular tests and preventative services that they need."

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: "In one of the bills before us, six million seniors are deprived of meals - homebound seniors are deprived of meals. People ask us to find our common ground, the middle ground. Is middle ground three million seniors not receiving meals? I don't think so.”

Representative Louise Slaughter: "In '94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. Now they're here to kill women."

Slaughter: "You are allowed to have an abortion if you have been raped or it's a matter of incest. However, you have to keep a receipt. Did you know that? It's sort of like an old German Nazi movie. Show me your papers!" The text of the bill Slaughter was referencing makes no reference to people needing a "receipt" to prove their abortion was for one of the excepted categories if they try to deduct the abortion fee they paid from their federal taxes.”

Mikulski: “A government shutfown..threatens the safety of our families and economy.”

Mikulski: “We are heading to a shutdown not because of a debate over money...but because the Republicans continue to want to push a radical agenda against women.”

Mikulski: “It's not only Nobel Prize winners, it's all the other people who are working. We're going to turn out the lights at the National Institutes of Health. We're going to say to a researcher - I know you're working on that cure for cancer, I know you're working on that cure for Alzheimer's or autism or arthritis, but you know what? Washington, the Congress says you're not essential.”

Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton on government shutdown: "This is the functional equivalent of bombing innocent civilians"

Senator Debbie Stabenow: “Republicans are now, unfortunately, playing pure politics with the budget...are they really planning on shutting down the government and hold middle-class families and veterans disability benefits hostage in order to stop women from getting cancer screening and blood pressure checks?”

Representative Ed Markey: “Republicans attacked the authority of both the EPA and the FCC, which are designed to make the polluters and the broad band barons the big winners at the expense of our environment, our health, our economy and the American consumer. In other words, Republicans are trying to pass legislation to destroy the world wide web and they are also passing legislation to help destroy the whole wide world. They’re taking aim on Google earth and setting their sights on mother earth. They are trying to mess with the blogasphere and pollute the atmosphere at the same time. They want to clog up the internet and smog up the air from smokestack massive amounts of dangerous global warming pollution.”

Kathleen Turner: “I’m really, really heartsick right now; the Republican party holding America hostage for defunding planned parenthood, which essentially means that millions of women in this country will not receive basic healthcare and it just makes me sick.”

Washington Post’s Ezra Klein: “The fight also isn't about cutting spending. The services Planned Parenthood provides save the federal government a lot of money. It's somewhat cold to put it in these terms, but taxpayers end up bearing a lot of the expense for unintended pregnancies among people without the means to care for their children.”

Attorney General Eric Holder about where Kalid Sheikh Mohammed ought to be tried: “Sadly, this case has been marked by needless controversy since the beginning. But despite all the argument and debate it has engendered, the prosecution of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-conspirators should never have been about settling ideological arguments or scoring political points.”

Bill Maher: “He [Obama] is a terrible negotiator. Does he not even know a Jew?”

President Obama, Feb. 23, 2009: “"I refuse to leave our children with a debt they cannot repay. We cannot and will not sustain deficits like these without end. . . . We cannot simply spend as we please."”

James Carville: "John Boehner is so beholden to his Tea Party base that whenever he sees them, he starts crying...We'll give Boehner a whole different reason to start blubbering. It'll be because we made sure that Boehner's Tea Party-backed government shutdown goes down in history as a political miscalculation of epic proportions."

Co-chairman of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Erskine Bowles said, "This country's out of money and we better start thinking... we're on the most predictable path toward an economic crisis that I can imagine."

E.J. Dione (almost making sense; talking about Obama’s policy in Libya): “Only a medieval scholastic could discover an Obama doctrine. He is anti-doctrine. And that is sort of his basic principle.”

Christine Romer: “I have been a vocal proponent of the Federal Reserve using the tools it still has to do more to get the unemployment rate back down to normal more quickly.”

Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski: "If there is a government shutdown, I don't think members of Congress should be paid. If there is a government shutdown and we tell dedicated federal employees that they're not going to get paid, that they're nonessential, well the fact that we couldn't stop a shutdown shows we're nonessential."

Bill Maher: "There is one religion in the world that kills you when you disagree with them and they say `look, we are a religion of peace and if you disagree we'll f***g cut your head off.' "

Lawrence O’Donnell: “Now, I’ve never visited a Planned Parenthood so I know little beyond that pie chart about what Planned Parenthood does. But I have friends who depend on Planned Parenthood. One of them currently, an unemployed victim of the great recession, who can't even afford cable TV to watch this show tonight, sent me an e-mail today saying -- ‘Stop these whackos.’ Her e-mail deserves a place in the Congressional record besides the lies being told about Planned Parenthood. She says: ‘do they have any idea how expensive birth control is and how important it is for it to be provided to women at Planned Parenthood clinics? A regular prescription for my pill was 98 dollars a month without insurance. And even with insurance, it was 78 dollars through the pharmacy. Who can afford that every month?’”

KC Mulville “Let me get this straight. The woman was unemployed because of the recession, but that means that she had a job before that. Yet she claims that she hadn't been to a GP for 10 years. Basically she's arguing that Planned Parenthood was her cheap medical care provider. She wants the rest of the country to fund her medical care. She's a free rider. She wants me to fund her birth control. No.”

Radical1979: “How is she sending this email? Chances are she's not at the public library. She's most likely sending it from her computer at home through the Internet provider she pays. Maybe she should scrap the pc and pay for her own health care. As far as birth control she shouldn't have sex or should have her partner(s) contribute to the cost of birth control. It's not my job to pay her bills.”

SickofLibs: “Hey lady: ever hear of condoms? They're about 50 cents each. Now assuming you have sex every other day (LOL) that's a whopping $8 a month.”

Reporter: “Mr. Holder,...Is it your thinking that you know best and that there is just no room for the public's view on where a trial should be held?”

Attorney General Eric Holder: “...I think they should respect the fact this is an executive branch function, a unique executive branch function. I have to deal with the situation as I find it, and i have reluctantly made the determination that's cases should be brought in a military commission.”

Michele Bachmann: "Make no mistake: I oppose this negotiated deal. It does not: Cut enough spending, stop funding Planned Parenthood, or defund Obamacare."

Dan Henninger on Republicans: “These are politicians. They backslide. They will break your heart, eventually.”

Kevin Brady: “Mr. President, you have been absent from this [budget] debate for a long time—we thought of sending out an Amber alert.” [quoted from memory]

Representative Thaddeus McCotter: “it was sitting here today that I realized why I wanted to listen to the melodious strains of Page and Plant, Jones and John Bonham. It's because for the Democratic Party the song remains the same. Once again, seniors and children wake to the hysterical, frightening visage of specters of gloom and doom - Democrats. Once again, we are regaled with the Democrats' entitlement reform plan. It is called 'Do nothing, spend everything, go bankrupt, benefits - bye-bye.' We continue to see a party that does not understand you cannot lift an economy when it is crushed beneath the weight of big government. We continue to see a party ideologically zealous in spending your tax dollars on Planned Parenthood to the point where they would shutdown the federal government to do it.”

Jim Pinkerton on Obama: “He let’s others take the lead in healthcare [and] in Libya.”

Gregg Gutfeld on Julian Assange: “[He is] the creepiest man since Nosferatu.”

Bill O’Reilly on Obama: “You know he watches the Factor; he said so. And now he’s doing everything I want him to do.” [quoted from memory]

Charles Krauthammer on Paul Ryan’s 2012 budget: “[It is] one of the most radical pieces of legislation in our lifetimes.” [quoted from memory]

George Will: "Paul Ryan is eight years younger than the President but vastly more experienced and conversant with these issues"

Lt. Colonel Allen West on mysterious white powder (it turned out to be cornstarch) sent to his office: “I think that the sick, depraved person that sent that powder, that substance and also the death threat against me and the very derogatory remarks in the letter; uh, if I could get 15 minutes with that individual, wherever he chooses, I think we could have a pretty good discussion.”

Newt Gingrich: "The country knows it's in serious trouble. You see this with Scott Walker, you see it with John Kasich [in Ohio], you see it with Rick Scott [in Florida], you see it with Chris Christie [in New Jersey], you see it with Mitch Daniels [in Indiana]."

Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor and 2012 presidential candidate: "[as more people] became aware and educated that it's [the budget] not just a matter of political rhetoric - it's a matter of sixth-grade math."

Sarah Palin: "I think he was born in Hawaii because there was the birth announcement put in the newspaper. But there's something there that the president doesn't want people to see on that birth certificate. Then he seems to go to great lengths to make sure it is not shown."

Rush Limbaugh: "Everybody lives in this media-created fantasy that Obama's unbeatable, that he's the greatest orator in the world. Well, you get him away from the prompter, and he's lost. He's a gaffe machine. He and Biden are in the same class, and it doesn't take long to call the roll."

Rush Limbaugh: "The left put three and a half million dollars into this Supreme Court race, Prosser versus Kloppenburg, and if they can't win in Wisconsin with all that union money and propaganda, then we really should have hope here, folks."

Rush: "What kind of birth control is allowed under Sharia law? Not even 'I have a headache' works under Sharia law, folks."

Rush (concerning Obama during the intense budget negotiations): "Mark Knoller says that President Obama got on the secure video teleconference line today with Hamid Karzai to discuss the Koran burning. Now, what does that say about President Obama's priorities here?"

Rush: "Why do the Democrats react with such panic every time a responsible budget is presented, a budget that would limit the growth of government and return economic liberty and freedom and power to the American people? Because they're deathly afraid that we are going to take away their power to enslave people."

George Patton said: "These pulpit killers [a reference to preachers who false preach pacifism, which results in the death of many] that go around saying that the Bible says that man dare not kill causes the death of many thousands of good soldiers. Damn little those pulpit killers know about the Bible. They know even less about the way God works. They should read all of the Bible, not just the part they like! God never hesitated to kill. God never hesitates to kill when

one man or any race of man needed to be punished. God helped David kill Goliath, didn't He? How about Noah and the Ark? All of the rest of the people were killed in the flood! God took the blame for this mass murder. How about the Red Sea which opened up long enough for one race to escape and another race to be killed. Don't talk to me about God not permitting man to kill. War means that we have to kill people. That's all there is to it. It is a sin not to kill if we are serving on God's side. There is no other way to win. Wars must be won for God's sake. He has a part in every war! The quicker we can kill the enemy, the quicker we can go home and listen to the pulpit killers tell us what we did wrong. If it wasn't for us, those pulpit idiots would be shot for standing in their own pulpits. Our task is to kill the enemy before we are killed."

Sergey Ivanov, Russia's deputy prime minister, made the following demand: "We insist on only one thing— [regarding the nascent US-backed missile defence shield] that we are an equal part of it. In practical terms, that means that our office will sit for example in Brussels and agree on a red-button push to launch an interceptor missile, regardless of whether the missile is launched from Poland, Russia or the UK."

Paul Ryan explaining the general idea behind his budget, where he has been taking the lead:

Paul Ryan defends this budget in a press conference; when as the last time Obama had a real press conference?

Michele Bachmann and Allen West on funding all armed forces personnel no matter what:

Jodi Miller: “Betty White is set to star in a TV show that prinks the elderly. Mmm, I believe we already have something like that. It’s called Obamacare.”

Jodi Miller: “In a recent survey, 43% said they don’t know President Obama’s religion. Come on, that’s easy to find out. It’s right there on his birth certificate.”

Jimmy Kummel: “The shutdown would mean that all non-essential workers would stop coming to work. I'm OK with that. Why do we even have non-essential workers? “

Jay Leno: “The most embarrassing part is that by the weekend, our government could be shut down, but Moammar Gadhafi's government could still be working.”

1) Despite all the claims of the Stimulus Bill and the Healthcare bill (both are laws now), passing them did not change the economy of the United States. However, when the Congress agreed to continue the Bush tax cuts, there was a moderate but measurable improvement in the economy, which included, at least by official numbers, a reduction in the unemployment.

2) Something I do not quite understand yet: Dick Morris talked about zero-funding certain groups so that they do not get money in a government shutdown; but doesn’t the president decide this?

3) So the President does not have complete control here, Congress ought to set up a priority list for a government shutdown, and allow government by law to only fund 80% of government revenues (and to go down the list as far as that will take you). At the top of the list: military salaries. At the bottom of the list: congressional salaries.

4) Here is a clever little trick for those on the left who want to end our troop occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan: start burning Korans like there was no tomorrow, and post these on the internet. Eventually, we would pull out of both countries.

5) I do not begrudge GE for paying no taxes. They did what was the most prudent thing to do. They did not break the law. It is the tax structure which is the problem. Speaking of this, I saw a commentator on FoxNews who did not get the difference between a legitimate business deduction and a tax loophole.

6) Obama made certain that, if there was a government shutdown, that veterans would not be paid. Now, I fully realize that Republicans used Planned Parenthood as a bargaining chip. I would love to see them defunded. Do you see depriving underpaid military types of their pay as a legitimate bargaining chip?

In 2010, Planned Parenthood and a California affiliate together spent more than $700,000 on federal lobbying efforts. The organization's political action committee donated more than $148,000 to federal candidates -- almost all Democrats -- during the 2010 election cycle. The PAC spent more than $443,000 overall. Planned Parenthood also recorded $905,796 in independent expenditures during the 2010 cycle -- money spent in support of, or in opposition to, federal political candidates, largely through advertisements.

In the 8 days preceding the deal made by President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) to cut $38.5 billion in federal spending, the federal debt increased $54.1 billion.

GE employs 975 people in their tax department, which explains why they were able to figure out how to pay no taxes this past year.

In the past 2 years, there has been an increase of 84% in non-defense discretionary spending (which includes the discretionary spending portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act).

The Chinese control 97% or the mining for rare earth minerals. Can that be correct?

57% of households headed by an immigrant with children under the age of 18 receive some form of welfare.

36% said that Obama administration would be more to blame (A Washington Post poll was very similar)

58% of Americans would rather see a partial government shutdown than keep spending at 2010 levels.

Lake Research Partners survey for the Center for Community Change and the Ms. Foundation for Women.

Did you notice all the media harping on the high gas prices and the 5000 non-citizens in Colorado who voted in the last election? Probably not.

As Rush pointed out, there were tons of stories out there about how awful a government shutdown would be. See the bottom of this page:

So, how many news stories did you see about what a precarious position we are in right now as a nation because of government over-spending?

All week long, there was a battle about a government shutdown and Democrats speaking as if these meager cuts offered up by the Republicans were going to destroy the earth and all of womankind. They are unable ti riff off of that? Instead, they offer up a weak skit on how “Fox and Friends” (an early morning show on FoxNews) is run by absolutely stupid, fear-mongering racists. I would bet that far more of their audience was aware of the budget battle than had ever watched “Fox and Friends.”

I know next to nothing about Jason Altmire, a Democrat who was on Greta’s program, but he seemed quite reasonable.

“What is your expected deficit in your 2012 budget? What expenses did you reduce from 2010?”

Obama, the Democrats and the budget. Back in October of 2010, the Democratic House was supposed to present a budget for the next year. They did not. There were 2 reasons for this: if they passed another 1.65 trillion deficit budget, every Republican in the country would have run against that in the November election. Therefore, officially, they set this aside until the debt commission came out with its findings in December of 2010 (after the election). They were hoping that (1) their losses would not be so bad and (2) the debt commission would give them cover to raise taxes. Well, the debt commission both lowered taxes and removed all of the tax breaks written into the tax code in order for both Democrats and Republicans to curry favor with this or that interest group.

Let me give you an example. Obama can go to GE and say, “What is it worth to you to make billions of dollars and to pay no taxes on it?” Immelt says, “I’ll support whatever you put out there and contribute several million to your campaign fund.” Obviously, they cannot speak to one another like this, but that is the gist of having a complex tax system—little Christmas treats are scattered throughout the budget for the special friends of politicians.

The debt commission came out and said, “No more of that; and, in addition, lower the taxes on everyone.” That just knocked Obama back on his toes. That was not what he wanted to hear. So he ignored the debt commission and tried to ignore the budget until he had no choice. The pesky House, with newly elected TEA party members, submitted a budget.

During the budget talks, President Obama realized that he did not have enough leverage with regards to the upcoming possible government shutdown. In the past, there were no other news organizations which would properly report this, so Democrats could portray any government shutdown as being the fault of the evil Republicans. FoxNews, blogs and a host of both news and conservative websites would tell a different story. They knew this because of the opinion polls, which had blame being equally

shared, in the public’s eyes, between Obama and the Republicans. So, Republicans offered up a clean bill to exempt veterans from the budget talks (i.e., they would be paid, no matter what); Obama rejected this bill, and overturned the old OMB directive, so that military paychecks would be suspended in the event of is a government shutdown. That was his leverage.

He’s the president and the Democrats control the Senate, and John Boehner still rolled him.

Along with demagoging his proposed budget, Paul Ryan’s background and every bad vote he made is going to become very public.

Well, sort of. I expected a lot of attacks on Donald Trump, but they were of a different nature than I expected (those will come too). I heard several people agree that Donald Trump was not a serious candidate and that this is a publicity stunt.

Also, if I was going to call it last week, I would have said, “We’ll see a government shutdown.” However, I did not predict it (I nearly did). 50/50 chance it could still happen.

The news portrayed a government shutdown as the worst thing that could ever happen. Check the references at the bottom of this page:

The Los Angeles Times reports today that White House fears gas prices could tank Obama. But they can't be that worried. Here is a bit from an AP report on yesterday's energy event in Fairless Hills, PA:

Obama needled one questioner who asked about gas prices, now averaging close to $3.70 a gallon nationwide, and suggested that the gentleman consider getting rid of his gas-guzzling vehicle.

"If you're complaining about the price of gas and you're only getting 8 miles a gallon, you know," Obama said laughingly. "You might want to think about a trade-in."

Instapundit has since noted that the AP has scrubbed this exchange from their website, but earlier versions with this account still exist (including The Huffington Post at this time).

Obama insisted yesterday that "There is no magic formula to driving gas prices down." That is true. But there are also things the government can do that will drive the price of gas up. And the Obama administration has done many of them including:

• The EPA announced new rules mandating the use of 36 billion gallons worth of renewable fuels (like ethanol) by 2020.

• Last summer President Obama needlessly instituted, not one, but two outright drilling bans in the Gulf of Mexico.

• After rescinding his outright offshore drilling ban, President Obama has refused to issue any new drilling permits in the Gulf, a policy that the Energy Information Administration estimates will cut domestic offshore oil production by 13% this year

• Interior Secretary Salazar announced that the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic coast, and the Pacific coast will not be developed, effectively banning drilling in those areas for the next seven years;

• Interior Secretary Salazar announced new rules making it more difficult to develop energy resources on federal land.

•The EPA is slowing a pipeline that would expand U.S. access to Canadian oil sands.

All of these policies raise gas prices at the pump by either: 1) decreasing the availability of domestic energy supplies, or 2) increasing regulatory costs on gasoline production.

As the reality of a possible government shutdown sets in, Washington Wire looks at what to expect from a temporary closure, including some facts about what happened the last time the government shut down in late-1995 and early-1996.

SOCIAL SECURITY: As an entitlement program funded through payroll taxes rather than annual spending bills, Social Security will send out checks, but the White House has warned that a shutdown could affect new applicants.

MILITARY OPERATIONS: Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on a trip to Iraq this week, assured troops they will be paid. "As a historian, it always occurred to me that a smart thing for government was always to pay the guys with guns first," Mr. Gates jokingly added. Troops are typically paid twice a month, and Mr. Gates said that if a government shutdown began after Friday, troops would receive half a paycheck for the first two weeks of April. After that, troops wouldn't be paid until a deal is reached in Washington to fund the government, although they would receive any back pay owed, he added.

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said on Tuesday that "we would still have the authority and the ability to continue key national security activities, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, operations in Libya, and humanitarian assistance in Japan, to name a few."

POSTAL SERVICE: The U.S. Postal Service would see no interruption in service or shutdown of post offices, since it's funded by customer payments.

INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE: IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said that if there is a government shutdown, the tax-return due date will remain April 18. Mr. Shulman encouraged taxpayers to e-file returns, because those are processed automatically and refunds would not be delayed. But he said there would be delays in processing paper returns and providing refunds for paper returns.

AIR TRAFFIC: Air-traffic control would continue without interruption. Passenger and baggage screening by the Transportation Security Administration would continue as well, an official said.

BORDER SECURITY: Border security is also listed in government documents as an exempted activity.

FEDERAL RESERVE: The Federal Reserve, which does not rely on appropriations, would remain open with normal staffing.

GOVERNMENT WORKER PAY: Rep. Jim Moran (D., Va.) predicts, "There will be no reimbursement" for the time those workers miss because Republicans are so intent on slashing spending and have demonized federal workers. Mr. Moran's Northern Virginia district is home to 120,000 government employees, and he's a longtime member of the panel that doles out federal spending.

FEDERAL COURTS: The federal court system would continue running for about 10 working days, using non-appropriated funds such as filing fees, a spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said. If the shutdown lasted longer than two weeks then individual courts would designate "essential employees."

Judges for federal district courts, appeals courts and Supreme Court justices would be on the job, the spokeswoman said.

Federal public defenders and federal jurors would likely see their pay checks deferred, and some probation officers might be designated as "nonessential." The spokeswoman said in previous shut downs some judges delayed civil cases and rescheduled appeals court hearings.

A Supreme Court spokeswoman had no immediate information on how the high court might be affected. But during prior government shutdowns, the Supreme Court continued operations with no interruption, she said.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: A federal shutdown would also close the doors at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Zoo beginning Saturday morning. The Smithsonian, which receives 70% of its funding from the U.S. government, stands to lose revenue from museum shops, cafeteria and IMAX theaters.

MEAT AND POULTRY INSPECTIONS: These would continue during a shutdown, the White House Office of Management and Budget said.

OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING PERMITS: Permitting reviews for offshore drilling would not stop in the event of a U.S. government shutdown, according to a contingency plan sent to Interior Department employees. The document, obtained Thursday by Dow Jones Newswires, says "most offshore energy development activities, including plan reviews, environmental analysis, permitting, inspection, and enforcement work" would "remain operational" during a government shutdown.

MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION: The White House Office of Management and Budget said regular inspections would be halted.

PASSPORTS: Emergency passport services would continue, but normal processing would be halted.

FINANCIAL REGULATION: OMB said federal agencies would stop stock broker inspections as well receiving and handling corporate financial disclosures. It also said routine oversight of financial markets and most enforcement actions would be put on hold.

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION: The CFTC said it would keep only 25 of its 675 staff members working in the event of a government shutdown - to conduct a "a bare minimum level of oversight and surveillance" of markets. The CFTC posted the contingency plan on its website in case f lawmakers fail to reach a budget agreement leading to a government shutdown after midnight Friday. The plan warned that the "vast bulk of the agency's operations will cease," but that certain employees would stay because "the complete absence of any oversight or surveillance by the CFTC would create an imminent risk to the protection of property."

THE RECOVERY ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY BOARD: The folks who track how the economic stimulus funds are being spent would continue on the job though a government shutdown. It said in a statement that it will continue to collect recipients' reports for the first quarter, and will post data from the reports online at Recovery.gov on April 30.

When Donald Trump began testing the presidential waters in late February, it was easy to discard his efforts as nothing more than a public relations ploy. It seemed "The Don" was just looking for one more way to get the Trump name up in lights. Thus, like so many others, I was not impressed.

Yet since that time, Trump has carved out a niche for himself politically and has not only proven his sincerity in considering a presidential run, but has also risen to the point of being the 2nd most popular candidate among possible GOP primary contestants. He has done this not only by saying what conservatives in America have long wanted a politician to say, but also by doing so with the kind of unapologetic tone that marks the words of a man who's confident in the justness of his cause.

To my point: Trump is angry over what Obama has done to America and he's not afraid to express this indignation via various radio, television, and print outlets. (It's been a long time since a potential presidential candidate loved America enough to verbalize his disdain over the harm a sitting president has done to this country.)

He believes Obama has given us "a terrible presidency" and he wants to see America return to being "the greatest place in the world."

And although some of Trump's statements have been maligned by the MSM (and Glenn Beck) to date, his words communicate convictions that resonate with everyday Americans throughout the land.

For instance, he thinks it's high time we quit kowtowing to China and other countries that threaten us economically. He believes that countries that benefit from our military power ought to pay for that benefit: which means Iraq ought to use their oil to repay us the approximately $1.5 trillion we spent liberating them and South Korea ought to pay for the protection we provide by keeping North Korea from invading them anew.

He is pro-life, opposed to gay marriage, and actually has demonstrated one thing Obama never could: real life experience running a business in the private world. (Plus, he made Meredith Vieira look stupid on The Today Show.)

Trump has made it clear he will announce whether he's going to seek the Republican presidential nomination or not by mid-June. For now, he seems absolutely sincere in this endeavor and continues to state his positions on a host of political issues without wavering.

And while I can't say I'm going to be putting a "Trump 2012" sticker on my bumper tonight, I can say I'm warming to the idea of watching Trump look Obama in the eye and say: "You're fired."

Question for Truthers, Birthers, and other Conspiracy-Mongers: Why Assume Sinister Schemes When Corruption, Incompetence, Politics, Ideology, Greed, and Self-Interest Are Better Explanations?

When I was in college and first became active in politics and public policy, I periodically would meet people who warned about sinister conspiracies that had to be exposed and overcome.

The most common villain, reviled by conspiracy theorists on the left and right, was something called the Trilateral Commission, though the Council of Foreign Relations often was mentioned in the same breath (I also remember a lefty friend warning about the Bilderbergers and Illuminati, though I never quite understood who or what they were supposed to be).

It's been a long time since I've heard anybody mention any of the above groups, but this doesn't mean conspiracy theories have faded into the sunset. There are thriving communities of people who think:

● The U.S. government and/or George W. Bush were complicit in the 9-11 attacks (the druthers).

● The Koch brothers have a secret plan to turn America into. well, I'm not sure, but they have a secret plan to do something bad.

This is probably just the tip of the iceberg, but you get the idea. The common theme in all these conspiracies is that wealthy/powerful people, in some unaccountable and hidden fashion, manipulate the levers of government to achieve some evil goal.

I suppose a quick disclaimer would be appropriate. The Koch brothers directly or indirectly provide 3 percent of the funding for the Cato Institute, so if they have a conspiracy, I'm part of it. Though I'm not sure how a conspiracy can be a conspiracy if it's all public information.

But I digress. The main point I want to make is that it is almost always foolish to believe in conspiracies. Or, to be more specific, it's foolish to believe in big conspiracies. We have a government that is spectacularly incompetent, filled with some of the most short-sighted and narcissistic people in the world, so why would anyone think it is realistic to believe that this bunch of buffoons could maintain a conspiracy using an organization that doesn't even have the ability to give away money without creating giant clusterf*cks?

In a column for National Review, Jonah Goldberg made this point quite effectively in discussing the fevered speculations of the birthers and truthers.

I'm not saying there are no secret dealings in Washington. There are lots of them. But they involve run-of-the-mill corruption, with politicians doing things like providing earmarks in exchange for campaign cash. That's the kind of scheme that works, because only a tiny handful of people are in on the deal, and they obviously have lots of reasons to keep quiet. Heck, in most cases there's probably not even an overt conspiracy, just an implied understanding.

I think people are drawn to conspiracy theories because they assume that things happen for a reason, as part of a deliberate design. So if we have a TARP bailout, for instance, they assume that there was a deliberate effort to create chaos so the people who are part of the conspiracy can grab more money and power.

I'm willing to accept the last part of that scenario. Washington is filled with people who are willing to use any excuse to grab money and power. But I think it is silly to think that some hidden group of bigwigs orchestrated the financial crisis for that reason.

As indicated in my title, it is much more realistic to believe bad things happen because of corruption, incompetence, politics, ideology, greed, and self-interest. These ever-present characteristics of human nature help explain why politicians, bureaucrats, lobbyists, and interest groups pursued the various policies (easy money, housing subsidies, etc) that inadvertently came together in a perfect storm to destabilize the financial system.

Yes, powerful interest groups have a lot of influence on the political system. But it's not a hidden conspiracy. Take the example of Goldman Sachs, which frequently is cited as being part of some evil plan. Their lobbyists are well known, their campaign contributions are public knowledge, and their policy positions are openly stated.

I often disagree with the actions of Goldman Sachs. But you don't need to believe that the company's endorsement of, say, the Dodd-Frank bailout bill is part of a conspiracy. It's just the kind of the out-in-the-open, day-after-day, special-interest deal-making that is routine in Washington.

I like good conspiracy theories, but I like them in David Baldacci novels rather than as explanations for what happens in Washington.

Hey, it's the weekend, and everyone's singing the same maddeningly catchy refrain! Rebecca Black's "Friday"? Nah, that was last week's moronic sing-along. This week's is even perkier! "Paul Ryan proposes to end Medicare as we know it," sings former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta. "It would end Medicare as we know it," sings Sen. Max Baucus of Montana. "It's going to

end Medicare as we know it," sings Nadeam Elshami, communications director for Nancy Pelosi. "It does end Medicare as we know it," sings Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa. "I drove all night to watch Paul Ryan e-e-end Me-edi-ica-a-are as we-e kno-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-w it," sing all 24 semifinalists on the Céline Dion round of "American Idol."

Sadly, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, incoming chair of the Democratic National Committee, lost the sheet music and was forced to improvise. "This plan would literally be a death trap for seniors," she ululated. Close enough!

Ending Medicare as we know it? Say it ain't so! Medicare, we hardly knew ye! It's an open question whether Americans will fall for one more chorus of the same old song from Baucus, Harkin, Podesta and the other members of America's wrinkliest boy band. But, if this is the level on which the feckless patronizing spendaholics of the permanent governing class want to conduct the debate, bring it on:

Literally, as Rep. Wasserman-Schultz would say. One way or another, Medicare as we know it is going to end. So, if you think an unsustainable 1960s welfare program is as permanent a feature as the earth and sky, you're in for a shock. It's just a question of whether, after the shock, what's left looks like Japan or looks like Haiti.

My comrade Jonah Goldberg compares America's present situation to that of a plane with one engine out, belching smoke. But, if anything, he understates the crisis. Air America doesn't need a busted engine because it's pre-programmed to crash. Our biggest problem is Medicare and other "entitlements": They're the automatic pilot of Big Government. Whoever's in the captain's seat makes no difference: The flight is preprogrammed to hit the iceberg, if you'll forgive me switching mass-transit metaphors in midstream.

For some reason, Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Harkin & Co. don't seem to mind this. If you recall the smile on the face of the "automatic pilot" in the movie "Airplane!" as he's being inflated, that's pretty much the Democrats' attitude to binge-spending as a permanent fact of life.

For a sense of Democrat insouciance to American decline, let us turn to the president himself. The other day Barack Obama was in the oddly apt town of Fairless Hills, Pa., at what the White House billed as one of those ersatz "town hall" discussions into which republican government has degenerated. He was asked a question by a citizen of the United States. The cost of a gallon of gas has doubled on Obama's watch, and this gentleman asked, "Is there a chance of the price being lowered again?"

As the Associated Press reported it, the president responded "laughingly": "I know some of these big guys, they're all still driving their big SUVs. You know, they got their big monster trucks and everything. ... If you're complaining about the price of gas, and you're only getting eight miles a gallon - (laughter)..."

That's how the official White House transcript reported it: Laughter. Big yuks. "So, like I said, if you're getting eight miles a gallon you may want to think about a trade-in. You can get a great deal."

Hey, thanks! You've been a great audience. I'll be here all year. Don't forget to tip your Democrat hat-check girl on the way out: At four bucks a gallon, it's getting harder for volunteers to drive elderly voters from the cemetery to the polling station. Relax, I'm just jerking your crank, buddy! And it's not four bucks per, it's only three-ninety-eight. That's change you can believe in!

Message: It's your fault. The same day as the president was doing his moribund-economy shtick, my hairdresser told me that she'd bought her midsize sedan second-hand in 2004. She'd also like to ask the president if there's a chance of gas prices being lowered again. But he'd have the same answer: Buy a hybrid. Wait till the high-speed rail-link is built between Dead Skunk Junction and Hickburg Falls. Climb into the fishnets and the come-hither smile and hitch.

America, 2011: A man gets driven in a motorcade to sneer at a man who has to drive himself to work. A guy who has never generated a dime of wealth, never had to make payroll, never worked at any job other than his own tireless self-promotion literally cannot comprehend that out there, beyond the far fringes of the motorcade outriders, are people who drive a long distance to jobs whose economic viability is greatly diminished when getting there costs twice as much as the buck-eighty-per-gallon it cost back at the dawn of the Hopeychangey Era.

So what? Your fault. Should have gone to Columbia and Harvard and become a community organizer.

Another 10 years of this, and large tracts of America will be Third World. Not Somalia-scale Third World, but certainly the more decrepit parts of Latin America. There will still be men with motorcades, but they'll have heavier security and the compounds they shuttle between will be more heavily protected. For them and their cronies, the guys plugged in, the guys who still know who to call to figure out a workaround through the bureaucratic sclerosis, life will be manageable, and they'll still be wondering why you loser schlubs are forever whining about gas prices, and electricity prices and food prices.

What's about to hit America is not a "shock." It's not an earthquake, it's not a tsunami, it's what Paul Ryan calls "the most predictable crisis in the history of our country." It has one cause: Spending. The spending of the class that laughs at the class that drives to work to maintain President Obama, Sen. Reid, Sen. Baucus, Sen. Harkin and Minority Leader Pelosi's "communications director" in their comforts and complacency.

The Democrats' solution to the problem is to deny there is one. Unsustainable binge-spending is, as the computer wallahs say, not a bug but a feature: We'll stimulate the economy with a stimulus grant for a Stimulus Grant-Writing Community Outreach Permit Co-ordinator regulated by the Federal Department of Community-Organizer Grant Applications. What's to worry about?

I said the Democrats' plan is to "end America as we know it," but even that has been outsourced to others. The choice is between letting Paul Ryan end Medicare as we know it, or letting our foreign lenders determine the moment to end America as we know it. I would not presume to know Chinese or Russian or Saudi or even European inclinations in this respect, although certain shifts in the ratio between short-term and long-term debt holdings suggest foreign governments give more thought to the implications of U.S. government spending than the U.S. government does. But I do know their interests are not ours, and that there will come a day when Beijing and others, in the words of King Barack to his lowly subject, "may want to think about a trade-in."

President Barack Obama said the budget negotiations weren't the place to deal with contentious social issues, but the agreement doesn't completely sidestep abortion.

Democrats beat back Republican attempts to cut funding for women's health services, including for organizations like Planned Parenthood.

But Democrats did agree to ban the District of Columbia from using federal and local taxpayer funds on abortions - a move cheered by abortion opponents as a noteworthy victory.

The deal also includes a guarantee that the Senate will vote on a bill that would end federal funding for Planned Parenthood, according to a House Republican summary.

Such a bill is unlikely to make it through the Senate, but the vote will put moderate Democrats and Republicans, particularly those facing tough reelections next year, on the spot.

"The speaker said repeatedly he was going to fight for the most policy provisions - and most spending cuts - possible and he did," said Brendan Buck, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Speaking from the White House late Friday, Obama suggested the agreement didn't deal with abortion.

"We also made sure that at the end of the day, this was a debate about spending cuts, not social issues like women's health and the protection of our air and water," Obama said. "These are important issues that deserve discussion, just not during a debate about our budget."

In fact, the deal is filled with several non-budget policy "riders" that bring some of the House Republicans' favored causes into the budget agreement. According to this list provided by the House Republicans, the deal:

- Guarantees Senate debate and vote on repeal of Obama's health reform law. The House passed such a bill in January.

- Requires numerous studies of health reform that Republicans say "will force the Obama administration to reveal the true impact of the law's mandates," including studies on the law's affect on premiums, the number and cost of contractors hired to implement the law and "a full audit of the waivers that the Obama administration has given to firms and organizations - including unions - that can't meet the new annual coverage limits."

- Requires mandatory annual audits of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created by the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, by both the private sector and the Government Accountability Office. The audits will examine the effects of the agency's actions on the economy, including its impact on jobs.

Please remember: you are fighting over how to spend our money. We the People pay 33.7% of the Federal Fund while corporations pay 7.2%. Many corporations pay no taxes at all. Yet your entire focus during this budget battle has been on how much to hurt the people.

We did not cause the recession, the deficit, or the national debt. We know this, and we need you to know that we are aware of a corrupt system in which corporations spend their vast wealth to lobby and manipulate you.

We know that's why the tax code so unjustly burdens us while favoring them. We know this is why Elizabeth Warren and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are under attack from the US Chamber of Commerce and other powerful lobbyists. We know that is why your policies reward multinational corporations, including those that DID cause the recession, with bailouts, bonuses, and tax benefits.

As you wrangle over how much to hurt our quality of life and jeopardize our future, consider ways to create jobs and invest in our future.

Annabel, Eric B, Lynda, Eric W, Gloria, Mark, Beth, Tina, Corinne and the Coffee Break to Save America Team

President of former Muslims United Tangles with Democrat New York State (of denial) senator over Muslim hate

RUSH: What's a few dead babies between friends? I mean that's really where we are here, folks, in discussing the pending government shutdown. We're talking about pennies, in addition to everything else. We are more than happy to fund Planned Parenthood. The Democrats are more than happy to fund Planned Parenthood, but they will shutdown this government if there is a rider to the continuing resolution that funds the military at war in Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq. So it's fine to pay Planned Parenthood. In fact, the regime is insisting on it, and they're calling this women's health. Chuck Schumer and the rest of the Democrats are out there describing this as a Republican assault on women's health. Or alternately they say that the Republicans are focused on the usual social issues that the independents don't care anything about. But what it boils down to is what's a few dead babies between friends?

Obama's got no problems ordering a moratorium on drilling for oil, but he will not support a moratorium on drilling for babies. Remind me, who are the people hoping Republicans cave on a moratorium on abortion so the Obamas can take their vacation? Yeah, they're going to colonial Williamsburg. It's been a long time since they took a vacation. Rio. Yeah, it's been at least two weeks. So they got another vacation to Colonial Williamsburg. Obama's demanding this thing get settled in time so he can go to Colonial Williamsburg. He has threatened to withhold pay, compensation from our troops, but refuses to withhold money from Planned Parenthood. Now, how is that hope and change working out for you?

Eleanor Holmes "Nawton", as her name is pronounced by Al Sharpton, Eleanor Holmes Norton has called the government shutdown "the equivalent of bombing innocent civilians." She is mad because the Republicans want to eliminate federal funding for abortion. Are there any more innocent civilians than unborn babies? Are they not the essence of innocence? And in the middle of all of this, we have to understand that we're talking pennies. Sixty billion, 70 billion, a hundred billion, 30 billion, it's pennies compared to the debt. It's pennies compared to what Paul Ryan's budget is dealing with. Dingy Harry on the floor of the Senate, maybe one of the dumbest statements he's ever made, and that's a tough competition, there have been a lot of 'em. This morning Dingy Harry on the floor of the Senate told about the health risks to his wife and daughters and nine granddaughters if he agrees to the Republican cuts. Now he's one of the wealthiest guys in Searchlight, Nevada, one of the wealthiest guys in Las Vegas, one of the wealthiest guys in the country and apparently he will not spend a dime of his own money on his daughters, granddaughters, or wife's abortions. Well, because that's what women's health is in this debate. Don't think it's about anything else.

If this is offending your sensibilities it damn well should because that's what we're talking about here. The only women's health issue these clowns care about on the left is abortion but they don't dare call it that. They want to fund Planned Parenthood. Why? Planned Parenthood earns its money performing abortions. That's their definition of family planning. So no matter how serious the health threat, Dingy Harry says he will not spend a dime of his own money on his kids and grandkids' health, slash, their abortions. If the government money's cut off, they're toast. Dingy Harry's daughters and granddaughters are toast. He's not gonna take care of it. It's your job, don't you know. It's your responsibility.

Obama has canceled a campaign trip to Indiana so that he can continue to refuse to compromise on any budget plan and block any continuing resolution. Now, that's dedication, folks. He is dedicated to blocking it at all. In fact, he's so dedicated to creating a government shutdown he's even willing to give up his latest vacation to Williamsburg so he can be on hand on block any funding for US troops. He will not dare leave Washington. When there's a chance to block funding that would pay military people, he'll hang in there and make sure to block it.

The government shutdown has shut down all other stories, too, and that's a shame. The quagmire in Libya. We got a general saying we may be sending ground troops in there. Did you hear about that? Skyrocketing gas prices. How's that trade-in working for you? Even stories about the real long-term budget deficit or Paul Ryan's sensible plan to fix it, and of course Obama has got to be very thankful that everybody's sidetracked and focused on what adds up to pennies and abortion. No wonder he won't compromise. But remember, ladies and gentlemen, the media was telling us how important it is to compromise. Oh, yes. We must make sure the independents love everybody here. Compromise, we must compromise. Of course, they just mean it's important for Republicans to compromise and what that means is it's important for Republicans to give up. It's important for Republicans to cave. The news media has gone completely off the deep end with their Cassandra-like predictions of a cataclysm if there's a government shutdown.

The headlines are hilarious. I have three pages here of fearmongering headlines: "Workers Brace for Effect of Government Shutdown," AP; "Military Families Worry About Looming Shutdown," AP; "Government Shutdown Could Impact Local Weekend Events," NBC Washington; "Government Shutdown, Park Closures Would Deliver Economic Blow to Utah," AP; "Federal Government Shutdown to Cost Dayton $100M Per Week." Iran's Press TV: "US Government Shutdown to Halt Troop Pay," and they're celebrating. The Iranian news agency is reporting we don't get paid, military doesn't get paid. Doesn't Harry Reid, by the way, represent a state that has legalized prostitution? How concerned can he be about women's health?

Think Progress: "11 Ways The Tea Party-Inspired Shutdown Will Hurt The Economy." "Government Shutdown Could Hurt Housing." "Thirteen Ways the Government Shutdown Could Hurt You." "Government Shutdown Will Hurt Cape Fear Region." "Government Shutdown Could Hurt Small Business." "Government Shutdown Will Hurt Michigan's Children." "Government Shutdown Could Hurt Thousands." "Why a Government Shutdown Would Hurt Blacks More Than Most." Oh, yeah, minorities hardest hit during a government shutdown. "Government Shutdown: 13 Ways it Can Hurt You." "US Government Shutdown Could Hurt Recovery." "Does a US Government Shutdown Really Hurt American Foreign Policy?" "Report: Shutdown Would Hurt Military Families." "Government Shutdown Could Hurt Real Estate." I'm just halfway through three pages of fearmongering headlines from the media eagerly awaiting and hoping for a disaster from a government shutdown over pennies and abortion.

RUSH: The American people (those who have bought into this silly notion of a government shutdown) are being held hostage so that people can get government-funded abortions. Well, look, Obama has clearly said, he's not going to sign a compromise that would pay the military during a shutdown. He will not sign one that will do it; he will not include it as a separate bill. He won't sign that; it's a "distraction," and he won't go along for a defunding of Planned Parenthood. So Obama's position is, "I'm gonna go to the mat making sure women get federally funded abortions. I don't care whether the military gets paid or not. But, by the way, fix this so I can head to Colonial Williamsburg with my five women who hang around me."

RUSH: You gotta listen to this. Last night in Alexandria, Virginia, at a town hall, well-known Democrat Representative Jim Moran and an unidentified military vet have this exchange about a possible government shutdown and how it will affect the troops.

VETERAN: Why are you here tonight and not in Congress trying to figure out how to stop this from happening?

RUSH: That's Congressman Jim Moran telling a voter and a citizen to sit down when the citizen wants to know why troops are not going to get paid. The answer is because we must continue to fund Planned Parenthood. Now, I don't know. If you're like me, you've probably heard that the United States doesn't pay for abortions. It's called the Hyde Amendment, right? We don't pay for abortions. So what is all this? Well, it's about funding for Planned Parenthood.

"That's right! I interrupt you whenever it's necessary -- and we're talking women's health issues, Mr. Limbaugh! We're talking Planned Parenthood. It's extremely important and it must be funded regardless."

How is it, Mr. Castrati, that Planned Parenthood earns its money aside from government grants? It's the number one provider of abortion, and yet it gets federal money. What for? To buy staples? Letterhead? Bumper stickers and posters? So apparently the federal government is funding abortion -- and come hell or high water, they're gonna continue to fund abortion, calling it "women's health issues" or whatever.

Let's go to the phones. Why we gonna start? Theo in Woodside, California, great to have you on the EIB Network. You are up first.

CALLER: Oh, thanks. (giggles) I wanted to make a comment about Harry Reid's argument: If we have health care plan, then why do we need Planned Parenthood for women's health?

RUSH: Well, that's a great point. It's redundancy. If the Obamacare fails to get the abortion done, Planned Parenthood can come in and finish it.

CALLER: But if Harry Reid's arguing that we need it for women's health, for cancer screenings and all these various health things, isn't that what the government health plan will be doing?

RUSH: Yeah. I know. Nobody's cutting cancer screenings here. That's every bit the smoke screen as Senator Schumer suggesting that the Republicans want to cut "women's health services." It's all a smoke screen. You are exactly right. You are very perceptive.

RUSH: Very, very shrewd. You are exactly right. We got Obamacare out there. There's no way any of these allegations are true. It's like Jesse Jackson said this was a return to the Civil War. Have you heard that? Theo, thanks for the call. If the troops are not paid by their commander-in-chief, I have a question. If the troops still engage in battle, if they go to war and they execute the orders issued by their commanders -- if the troops are thus not paid by their commander-in-chief -- are they his slaves? What would you call it? Can those serving in the military just walk off the job? I don't think so.

So if Obama does not sign the bill to pay his troops, then it sounds sort of like forced labor to me. I mean, it's one thing, folks... We can all agree on this: It's one thing to have to pick cotton, but to be forced to risk your life overseas without being paid, that's the worst kind of forced labor to me. Are you kidding me? How can the president of the United States, on the eve of the anniversary of the Civil War -- the 150th anniversary -- threaten to withhold payment to Americans who not only risk their lives for their country but are required by law to serve or face court-martial after they volunteered? I believe desertion in wartime is still a capital offense.

But if these wars are just kinetic military operations, maybe an unpaid warrior who walks off the job only gets jail time. Because we're not the war. The regime won't say so. These are kinetic military actions. But I think the Reverend Jackson might want to rethink his Civil War analogy. I mean, it's getting ludicrous. Eleanor Holmes Norton is claiming this is the same thing as bombing innocent civilians? Jesse Jackson says the government shutdown would be a return to the Civil War? If the president refuses to fund the troops -- if the commander-in-chief refuses to pay the troops -- and congressman Jim Moran in Virginia tells a voter who wants to know why the troops aren't being paid to shut up and sit down -- and if these guys expect these troops to stay on the job -- it sure sounds like Obama has more in common with President Jefferson Davis than he does with President Lincoln.

RUSH: Let's be a little honest here, folks. Let me just perhaps verbalize what many of you are thinking. I've been thinking this ever since 1995. Won't it be a little disappointing if they don't shutdown the government? I mean, I'm hoping they do. Don't you? Don't you? I just want this thing shut down. We all know that a whole lot of the government actually won't be shut down. We also know the impact is nothing like what the liberals and the media tell us it's gonna be.

But wouldn't it be just and right if the government experiences a little bit of this recession like the private sector has? Okay, so some people aren't gonna get paid. So some people aren't gonna get a check. Welcome to the club! The private sector has been horribly impacted by this government. The private sector has horribly impacted by Barack Obama and his economic policies. The government has not been affected at all. The government has done nothing but continue to leech and grow. (interruption)

Yeah, I meant the line, Snerdley: Obama's got more in common with President Jefferson Davis in this whole mess than he ever had with Abraham Lincoln.

RUSH: I'll be a little bit disappointed if there's no government shutdown, been gearing up. I know, if there's a government shutdown the media's gonna be insufferable. If there's a shutdown, I mean we're gonna be looking at graphics of Boehner with horns on his head. I know all that. But they keep asking us about sacrifice. When are we gonna sacrifice for the Iraq war, they said? When are we gonna sacrifice? It's about time the government sacrificed a little. If there's one entity that never sacrifices, if there is one entity that never suffers, that doesn't hurt along with everybody in the private sector, and when you consider the government is responsible for that pain, maybe a little shared pain's not such a bad idea.

Snerdley, you look like you can't believe what you're hearing today. It's 23 years and you still act like, "I don't believe what I'm hearing today." Look, Snerdley cannot believe that I had the audacity to say that Obama looks much closer to Jefferson Davis than Abraham Lincoln. Look, if you're gonna have your military out there and demand that they put their lives on the line, and you're not paying 'em, you've got slavery. That's why I think the Reverend Jackson may want to redefine his thinking on this.

When has the government ever had any skin in the game? The government is always using our skin. Always. This is from Fox News: "In a letter to Department of Justice employees, the attorney general Eric Holder says uncertainty of the shutdown puts workers in a difficult position." Never mind that the article at Fox News goes on to say that only about 20% of Justice Department employees would face furlough under this so-called shutdown, which could last as long as two weeks, according to the department's 2011 contingency plan which was finalized yesterday. Not a single FBI official or US marshal in the field would be furloughed so we would continue to be able to watch Justified. Old Raylan, Harlan County, Kentucky, would still get paid and so the show would still be on the air.

Let's go to the audio sound bites, ladies and gentlemen. We'll start, President Obama last night, just to review all this, get us up to speed, here is Obama demanding an answer this morning.

OBAMA: What I've said to the Speaker and what I've said to Harry Reid is because the machinery of the shutdown is necessarily starting to move, I expect an answer in the morning. And my hope is is that I'll be able to announce to the American people sometime relatively early in the day that a shutdown has been averted.

RUSH: I'm sure he does hope he can announce to the American people the shutdown has been averted. Yes. I expect an answer in the morning. Well, the morning has come and gone, he didn't get one. And now everybody, from the left and the right, you can find it various blogs, newspapers, television networks, are starting to question Obama's leadership. In fact, you gotta hear this. Fineman thinks that Boehner is cleaning Obama's clock. Last night on Hardball, Chris Matthews, speaking to Fineman, Matthews said, "I feel for the guy. There's a lot of people behind him that he hasn't had to deal with before. These are not professional politicians behind him." He's talking about the Tea Party people. "Some have come in and they want to win, win, win, and not compromise."

FINEMAN: What I find interesting about this is I think in narrow sort of poker terms, Boehner is doing very well. I think he's cleaning the president's clock. I mean he's got the White House up to $35 billion or something like that.

RUSH: Jeez, $35 billion. We're talking pennies. Here is Boehner this morning talking about the federal budget negotiations, possible government shutdown, troop payment so forth.

BOEHNER: We're close to a resolution on the policy issues, but I think the American people deserve to know, when will the White House and when will Senate Democrats get serious about cutting spending? A bill that fails to include real spending cuts will hurt job growth and signal that Washington is not serious about dealing with its spending addiction. And I think the Senate should follow the House lead and pass the troop funding bill and do it today. I also believe the president should sign the troop funding bill into law. This is the responsible thing to do to support our troops and to keep our federal government open.

RUSH: Not gonna pay the troops. The regime is adamant about this, and they're also not gonna allow the defunding of Planned Parenthood. So abortions must go on. Democrat Party, President Obama, abortions must go on. But, if you're a citizen at Jim Moran's town hall and you stand up and you ask him why aren't the military gonna get paid, you'll be told to shut up and to sit down. Why doesn't the media ever remember that it was Obama who promised to cut the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term? They probably do. They're just not gonna report it. My question is what is he waiting for? He promised to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. It's time he got started on this. Yeah, paying the troops is a distraction, don't you know. This whole notion of a retired or a separate piece of legislation to pay the troops, that's a distraction.

I got an idea. Make the troops employees of Planned Parenthood. There we go. Make the troops employees of Planned Parenthood. Let's get the legislation on that rolling and then let's see 'em defund the troops. (laughing)

I checked the e-mail at the top. This is understandable. There are people who don't know who Jefferson Davis was, and depending on your age, if you're relatively young... look, you remember John Silber's survey of American textbooks, and the longest reference to Abe Lincoln they found was a paragraph. Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederacy. (interruption) Do they know what that is? He-he-he-he. Okay. That's a good question. For those of you in Rio Linda, the Confederacy, that was the South in the war against Northern aggression. They wore the gray uniforms in Gone with the Wind. (laughing) And Jefferson Davis was their president. These are the guys who got burned when Atlanta went up in flames. That's the Confederacy, and Jefferson Davis was the leader. And of course the Confederacy was the slave owners and the military representing the slave and plantation owners back in those days.

Here's Dingy Harry this morning on the Senate floor talking about women's health and a possible government shutdown.

REID: Anyone who says this debate is over abortion isn't being truthful. It's about simple health services.

REID: Republicans want to shut down the government because they think there's nothing more important than keeping women from getting cancer screenings? This is indefensible, and everyone should be outraged. The Tea Party, among others, but they are the biggest push, is trying to move its extreme social agenda, issues that have nothing to do with funding the government. They're willing, it appears clearly, to throw women under the bus, even if it means it will shut down the government.

RUSH: (laughing) The Tea Party is living rent free like I am in Harry Reid's brain. And we had a caller, Theo, earlier, how in the world? We're not defunding Obamacare here. By the way, it is Obamacare that is going to reduce the payments for women's cancer screenings, is it not? Is it not Obamacare that's gonna reduce the number of mammograms that they'll pay for? Isn't Obamacare going to reduce all these kinds of cancer screenings for women on the basis that they get too many of them, too often? Yeah. If the military all became employees of Planned Parenthood, then the left really could call the military baby killers and they'd be right for the first time.

RUSH: I checked the e-mail during the brief time-out, and man, there are some mad, angry people out there over my comment about the military being baby killers! Now, back off, you people. Let me put this in perspective. Here's the chronology. The military will not be paid if there's a government shutdown. Democrats in the Iraq war -- John Kerry, Jack Murtha, Harry Reid, any number of 'em -- called our military baby killers, terrorists. Any number of atrocities were being committed by our troops. Abu Ghraib, all of that.

Come forward to today where the regime will not sign legislation that pays the military (either separate legislation or a rider to the continuing resolution) because the Republicans are also demanding that Planned Parenthood be defunded. What does Planned Parenthood do? Kills babies. Planned Parenthood performs abortions. So all I said was, "Well, then, let's just make the military part of Planned Parenthood. Thereby they would get funded, and then we could call 'em baby killers and it would be true. It's a rhetorical device to illustrate the utter hypocrisy and how wrong and foolish the left is on this.

The Hyde Amendment. Let me try it this way. The Henry Hyde amendment, Harry Reid supported the Hyde Amendment for most of his career. Now, the Hyde Amendment, which prohibited federal funds for abortion, was essentially repealed by Obamacare. Even though it prevented federal funding of abortions, it was repealed. Obamacare repeals it. So we're returning to what used to be before Obamacare, and now they're calling that extreme? Supporting what Reid used to support now is too extreme? As usual these Democrats, the left, they're standing in quicksand as they make all of these statements.

RUSH: Matt in Ontario, California, welcome to the EIB Network. Matt, it's great to have you on the program. Hello.

CALLER: (laughing) Anyways, I was just wondering: You know the theory you have where everybody's knowledge of history starts at their birth?

CALLER: I was wondering: At what point did it become acceptable for elected US representatives to insult the populace? As an example, the Tea Party, or insert whatever party you want to.

RUSH: Well, the Tea Party, it precedes even the Tea Party. Try being a conservative. No, seriously. The Tea Party is --

RUSH: Okay, exactly. You understand. I think the better question is: When did it become fashionable for members of Congress to openly disrespect their voters like Fortney "Pete" Stark does or that sound bite from Jim Moran that we have? You know, a military stands up, right?

RUSH: The military voter stands up and says, "Why aren't the military getting paid?" Shut up and sit down!

CALLER: For me personally it just keeps pushing me further right and I personally will never, ever consider anybody on the left ever again.

RUSH: Every one of you that says that, remember, now: There are people that vote for Jim Moran who just love him saying that to a military guy. They just love it!

RUSH: Let me tell you something: The left considers you and me a bigger enemy than militant Islam; and so when one of their elected guys come along and tells us to shut up and sit down, they are happy. So you want to know, "When did it all start? When did this open disrespect for voters and open insult to the American people start?"

RUSH: Gosh, it's hard to pinpoint it in the modern era, but it's, I think, fait accompli. It's part of the standard operating procedure of the American left and the Democrat Party.

RUSH: Well, to their core constituents they have. Look at Obama. He's out there in San Francisco, and he forgets that somebody from the Huffing and Puffington Post is there with a live mic.

RUSH: Let me tell you something: I don't doubt for a moment that there are elected Republicans who take my name in vain, probably many times today.

RUSH: Moving on to Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, yesterday at the Gamesa Technology Corporation Obama spoke. During the Q&A an unidentified guy said, "You're talking about the rise of gas prices..." Oh, before that, let me grab this AP story. This is outrageous and hilarious at the same time: "Shoppers shrugged off higher gas prices and cool temperatures to give retailers a surprisingly strong March." Did you know that? Did you know that you just "shrugged off" high gas prices? Did you pull in the pump, see gas prices and say, "Eh, no big deal. I gotta go to the mall?" Would you ever?

Gas prices are nearing the $4-a-gallon tipping point nationwide. They're already at $4 in certain states. Would you ever see a story like this with a Republican president: "Shoppers shrugged off higher gas prices"? Well, the fact is, shoppers and voters are not shrugging off higher gas prices. This guy at Obama's town hall yesterday in Pennsylvania said to him, "You were talking about the rise of gas prices. I know back in the seventies they were going from our license plates, odd to evens, days we could get gas. I know we're not at that stage right now but they did lower the prices after that. Is there a chance of the gasoline price being lowered again?" Now, listen to Obama's answer.

OBAMA: I'm just gonna be honest with ya. There's not much we can do next week or two weeks from now. (snickers) If you're getting eight miles a gallon you may want to think about a trade-in. You can get a great deal. I -- I promise you GM, or Ford, they're -- or Chrysler, they're -- gonna be happy to give you a deal on -- on something that gets you better gas mileage. Gas prices? They're gonna still fluctuate until we can start making these broader changes, and that's gonna take a couple of years to have serious effect.

RUSH: He's talking about his "green" energy programs, and they will not be anything productive in two years or 30 years. Oil is it! But that's not my point. Here is a guy who has an SUV who's asking about gasoline prices, and Obama says, "Hey, you know what? Eight miles a gallon? You better go get a trade in." This is a total disconnect. It's as disconnected as it gets. So may I have the attention of all Americans? All of you who make a living using your trucks, pickup trucks, vans, four-wheel-drive vehicles? All of you painters, you construction workers, delivery men, cabdrivers, even soccer moms?

Those of you who depend on large vehicles for your business or for the safety of your family, your president has just told you to trade it in for some electric job that his company happens to make. Trade in your vehicles. Go out and buy a subcompact. See, that's how this works for you. Problem solved, according to Barack Obama. I want to go back to 2005, 2006. The gas price was getting up to four bucks a gallon and George Bush gets a question about it. He says, "Why don't you go trade in that gas guzzler of yours, pal?" What would the news reports be? They would certainly be focused on the insensitivity of Bush.

"Well, he doesn't care what gas costs because we don't have to buy it and he's in a limousine that only gets eight miles to the gallon!" Well, so is Obama. Obama's limo gets eight miles to the gallon. His fleet of security vehicles, Suburbans, they're not gonna switch out. It's a classic illustration here of how statists live and work, and you don't get to play in their league. So you just gotta go trade in your car. You gotta go get a subcompact. You gotta go out and get another car if you want to spend less on gasoline. We're not gonna drill. We're not gonna increase our own supply of oil.

No, we're gonna hold out for a worthless so-called green energy solution that does not exist and won't exist for decades -- and don't doubt me. He's not gonna try to lower prices, he's not gonna try to lower taxes, he is not gonna lower the corporate tax rate, he's not gonna take any action that will make the cost of living less because he doesn't want to. What we need to do is trade in Obama! We bought the wrong president. You have to go trade in your car. He didn't get an Obama-approved vehicle. Oh, let's not forget about students and those making at or near the minimum wage.

If you don't have a high mileage car, you're screwed. The president doesn't care. You got that? Your gas prices are not going down. He doesn't care. He's on record as saying he didn't mind a $4-a-gallon national gasoline price. He was a little upset at how fast it got there, but the overall effect of the price didn't bother him at all. So what are you gonna do now? You show up, you tell the president of your concern but get eight miles to the gallon, and he tells you to go trade in your vehicle. Well, you might not be able to afford to drive to the polls in 2012 and vote for the idiot who loves high gas prices. That's what you should tell him.

Now, this is from a guy who says he "remembers" pumping gas when he was young. We have the audio sound bite. I can't find it real quick, but he said he remembers what it's like to pump gas, and that's when gasoline was cheap. He remembers what it was like to buy gas before he became president, when Bush was president. Gasoline has doubled in price since Obama hit town, and he says buy a new car. The federal deficit has ballooned since Obama hit town. He tells you to trade in your car. He says Sarah Palin is an embarrassment? Yeah, Sarah Palin is an embarrassment. Meanwhile, Obama is destroying the little guy: High gasoline prices, high food prices, inflation on the way. Try that one out, seasoned citizens. All of you on fixed incomes, gas prices are not going down and food prices won't, either.

RUSH: Let's go to Zanesville, Ohio, as we start on the phones with Joe. Thank you for calling, sir. Great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER: I just came up with the idea that -- you hit it on the head when you said let's not trade in our cars, let's go one step further, let's not trade in our cars, let's not trade in our lives, let's trade in Obama.

CALLER: I come from a state -- actually, there's a picture in the New York Times of Kasich in a little ice cream restaurant in Zanesville, Ohio, and that was the one where I work. I'm actually general manager there, and my boss is not actually a conservative, but he was in Kasich's boat, and so was I. Now, the thing I come up with is I'm from a state that uses and harvests natural gas, and we're huge on coal, and alls I hear is we can't drill for it, we can't mine for it, and Obama says go trade in your car. Well, I don't want to trade in my car and he says you can't do anything about it. Well, you can't tell me that if he said, okay, go ahead and drill, that the price of gasoline wouldn't plummet.

RUSH: Oh, it would. You have to understand. Look, it's very simple. You've laid it out pretty well here. You gonna use coal? No, not gonna use coal. Gasoline, natural gas? No, not gonna do that. Too dangerous, could destroy the planet, blah blah. What do you have? What does all this add up to? You've got a guy and a regime full of people who agree with him that their objective now is to preside over the decline of this country to that of a European type socialist state. That's their objective. There's a war on prosperity. It's happening every day and it's in their policies. There's a war on prosperity. There's no doubt about it. We've got two and a half years under our belt of regime policies and we see the results of regime policies.

Now, anybody who really cared about reversing this would see that after two and a half years their policies aren't working. They would engage to improve them, maybe alter them a bit so that you get a different result. No, we're doubling down on the same stuff that got us where we are. So you go to a windmill company, a guy asks you about eight miles to the gallon in his SUV, and the president says, "Trade it in." And he goes to Sharpton's group says, (paraphrasing) "Yeah, look, you can count on me. I know what it was like to pump gas." When did he ever pump gas? We've been told in his books that the only job he's ever had working one day at a Baskin-Robbins. Now, we do know that he felt like he was across enemy lines working at some law firm for a while. But he worked at a Baskin-Robbins, which is why he claimed he hated ice cream, which turned out to be another lie. He loves ice cream.

Now, don't you think that if Obama pumped gas that we would have some of the people he worked for and worked with coming forward to brag about it? "Oh, yeah, I pumped gas with Obama." I mean this Titcomb guy out there soliciting prostitutes, he's a good buddy of Obama. Maybe this guy can recall the days that Obama pumped gas. I wouldn't be surprised if this is another made-up story, just on the fly, wasn't on a prompter, so all bets are off. "Yeah, yeah, I pumped gas," like the one about him being conceived by his parents while they were in Selma. He actually said that. He said that his parents got the idea when they were in Selma. He said it when he was in Selma, talking about the movement. We borrow $4 billion a day from China and we are arguing over the difference between 30 and $70 billion in cuts here and whether or not we are going to shut down the government over this.

Obama said, "At a time when the economy is still coming out of an extraordinarily deep recession, it would be inexcusable given the relatively narrow differences when it comes to numbers between the two parties, that we can't get this done when it comes to numbers between the two parties that we can't get this done." He said that last night at the White House. I guess he wants to own the budget negotiations now, like owning the mob in Egypt. But he goes away all day, comes back late at night, then summons everybody to the White House for a meeting to make it look like he's intimately involved in all of this, but note the priority. The priority was the reelection campaign and shoring up what apparently is a weakening support in the black community.

RUSH: By the way, the AP has scrubbed Obama's eight mile per gallon remark from their story, the comment that he made. The original article read, "The president chided one questioner, saying: 'If you're complaining about the price of gas and you're only getting 8 miles a gallon, you know, you might want to think about a trade-in.'" Let's grab that sound bite. This is what Obama said, the original AP story reported this.

RUSH: That's enough, that's enough, that's enough. So you heard it. If you're getting eight miles a gallon, you may want to think about a trade-in. The AP reported that Obama made the comment laughingly, but the quote has been scrubbed from the story that they link. It's been scrubbed. AP just took it out. They just took it out. We've got it here. They just took it out of there. (laughing) Obviously there was no prompter. The question is did AP do it on their own or did somebody from the White House call 'em? I bet they got the call, too, but I'll bet they woulda done it on their own. I bet there was somebody at AP that said, "You know, this is really kind of bad."

By the way, folks, my car gets eight miles to the gallon and I'm honored. I'm proud. I chose my car for that reason. Well, no, I can't honestly say I chose it for that reason. But I chose it knowing full well. That didn't deter me at all. No, it did not deter me at all. And I love my car. Finest car I've ever driven. No, if I trade it in it's gonna be for a new one of the same kind 'cause it's three years old now. It's got 11,000 miles on it. (laughing) You should see Snerdley and Dawn. (laughing) I do. Folks, I've got a Mercedes SL 65 AMG, it's a convertible. This thing, it's the same engine as the Maybach has, it just weighs about one-third the Maybach, but it, too, if it had the weight would only get eight miles to the gallon. That car has about 8,000 miles on it. But we have six in the fleet. Mostly we got four SUVs. I don't drive those, but I would bet you my fleet, combined gas mileage, is nine. I am not going to trade-in anything I've got for one of Obama's cars.

You know, I see Priuses. There's people driving these Priuses and I know that some of them probably think they're helping, but other people are doing it just to make a statement. It's like wearing one of the red ribbons or blue ribbons. I love giving those cars enemas. I mean I love getting just as close to 'em as I can in the back, and they're looking at me in their rearview mirror, and I just wave at 'em. And these people generally always drive like four to five miles an hour under the speed limit, so, you know, I love pulling out, going parallel with them and then goosing it awhile, just to say, "Here, breathe my fumes. Look at me destroying the planet." Oh, I love it. I absolutely do. But as I say it's time for a trade-in, maybe. And if I do get a new version of that, because I'm sure that they've upgraded the electronics in it, the gadgetry on the dashboard and stuff.

RUSH: Eric in Chittenango, New York (not to be confused with Chattanooga, Tennessee). Hello.

CALLER: Rush, with Obama being the smartest man in the world saying that he can't control the price of gas and we gotta get used to it, he just needs to look back two years when gas was at $4.12 in June -- $4.12 -- and then immediately in June, George W. came out and told Congress that we need to searching for more oil in the states and the gas then plummeted to the end of the year to $1.61.

RUSH: Well, that's partially the reason for it. Spectators also had a lot to do with the price of oil jumping up to $150 a barrel, but just to show you it again -- because you're right -- Obama, when he says there's nothing we can do to lower the price of oil or gasoline, then what would be the point of releasing oil from the strategic reserves, which Obama has called for a number of times? We don't have a shortage. We've never a shortage of gasoline or oil. Well, we did for a couple days after Katrina, but in terms just fundamental, systematic shortage we've not had. Yet when the price was skyrocketing up to four bucks I think it was Obama who joined the chorus of releasing oil from the strategic reserves. Why? Because the additional volume, theoretically, would lower the price -- although there isn't enough volume in our strategic reserves to significantly lower the price, and certainly not for any protracted length of time.

RUSH: Ralph in Fort Scott, Kansas. You're next on the Rush Limbaugh program. Hi.

CALLER: I just wanted to make a comment. You were talking about how our president told that gentleman he should trade in his eight mile to the gallon vehicle. Well, I happen to have one of them myself, and nicely enough it's paid off, and I can't see trading it in on the cost of a new vehicle between 30 and $40,000, and in the part of Kansas where I live, sir, that will buy you a house.

CALLER: I mean if our president decides to trade in one of his limousines for a Smart Car --

CALLER: Oh, you could get a two, three, four-bedroom house for that kind of money in some places in Kansas.

RUSH: That's incredible. Well, you know, I did, I bought a little property in Missouri just to be loyal to the state about four years ago, bought a little property there, and -- (laughing) -- I get my property tax bill for it, and I think, "This can't be." I mean it's less than my gasoline payment every month.

CALLER: Well, my mom listens to you every day down in New Mexico, and she's probably hearing me right now so I'm probably gonna catch it later.

RUSH: Why would your mom be upset with you listening and talking to the program? Does she think you're at work or something?

CALLER: No, no, no, she loves listening to you every day, and, I don't know, she might be a little bit ticked that I got in.

RUSH: Oh, oh, oh, the jealous anger? I got it. I got it. Okay, well, let me run through this again because we're in sort of a jocular mood here today, but this four-dollar-a-gallon gasoline comment, I mean it's not enough to say it's insensitive. It's an in-your-face kind of thing. How many people drive SUVs because they have to for their jobs or their families? How many people make a living with their pickup trucks, their four-wheel-drive vehicles? You've got contractors, painters, construction workers, delivery people, cabdrivers, soccer moms, for crying out loud, car poolers. Not everybody can start tooling around in one of these little matchbox jobs that gets 75 miles, whatever they get, not everybody can do that. That's what they want, though. They want us all in these little matchbox cars or on mass transit. That's what they want because they're central planners. It's just better that way. It's better for the environment; it's better for congestion; it's better for traffic. It doesn't matter whether it's better for us or not.

Obama's part of this crowd of people that just loves bossing people around, and more and more bureaucracies, federal and state, are made up of people who just like bossing other people around. But there are a lot of people who depend on large vehicles for their living and for safety, and the president seems to have literally no understanding of that, and if he does understand it, he doesn't care, which is either just as bad or worse.

News from the AP. Just flashed. "White House says that the Republican one week budget extension is a distraction --Obama has threatened to veto it." So it's nice to see that a continuing resolution that would allow the Army to keep getting paid is a distraction. You Republicans have got to focus on this. They did not succeed in separate legislation to fund uniformed military personnel. They will not be paid if this shutdown happens, and this shutdown is gonna happen because of a Barack Obama veto. A Democrat is gonna veto a one-week continuing resolution. It's not a budget for the entire year, a one-week continuing resolution with a differential spread of $30 billion.

Chump change. Now, this convinces me even more that they've got polling data that shows that the Republicans, I guess, are gonna end up taking more blame for this than the Democrats. What else could it be? What else could explain the total change in attitude from yesterday to today? Yesterday it was the Democrats scared to death. Starting last night into today they are just excited as they can be about this shutdown coming. But it's nice to see that a continuing resolution that would allow the Army to keep getting paid is a distraction. Social Security recipients are gonna get paid. Medicare/Medicaid, they're gonna get paid. Military people will not be paid.

CALLER: It's been awhile. Rush, the clip you played of Obama dealing with the eight mile a gallon car the guy was driving.

CALLER: You or Paul Shanklin have gotta put together a used car salesman clip, commercial, using that clip.

CALLER: He sounded like one. (imitating Obama) "Come on in. We got a deal for you. It's about time you do a trade-in."

RUSH: Well, let me ask you something. Were you motivated to go trade your car in after hearing Obama say that?

RUSH: All right, I wasn't. I don't think he's that good a salesman. But you're right, it's worthy of a parody, "Come on down, have we got a deal for you." Great you called, Steve. Thanks much.

RUSH: Nothing is new. Everything is simply a rerun. Everything is a replay. Mere moments ago, ladies and gentlemen, if your local station happens to run ABC Radio News, you just heard a story about a teacher and students who had long planned to come to Washington. They won't be able to go to the zoo now. They won't be able to go to the museums. They won't be able to see the cherry blossoms. In fact, the cherry blossom parade won't happen this weekend if there is a government shutdown. I guarantee you, reporters are hunting all over the country for people who will be inconvenienced. They probably got somebody out at Jellystone Park as we speak trying to find a sleigh ride concession or something commensurate with it given it's springtime. They're trying to find the appropriate pain and suffering and they'll send somebody out to the Washington Monument and they'll talk to somebody, "Yeah, well, we're gonna have to shut down," and then people who watch the event are gonna be surprised the Washington Monument is still there because it got blown up on Sunday night on that show.

Anyway, folks, great to have you back. Here it is already Wednesday on the one and only Excellence in Broadcasting Network. I'm Rush Limbaugh here to serve humanity. I do that simply by showing up. Telephone number is 800-282-2882, the e-mail address, ElRushbo@eibnet.com.

It's comical. I mean it's serious, but it's comical. The news media fanning out under orders, it's like the budget battle of 1995, remember, if you paid attention to things back then, Republicans back then were gonna starve kids by cutting the school lunch program, and they had kids in New Orleans send letters to Newt Gingrich and other Republicans saying, "Please don't starve us. We can't learn when we're hungry." And the media is just ratcheting all this stuff up. And they're doing it with Paul Ryan's budget. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, this little dynamo is gonna be the new head of the Democrat National Committee. She's full-fledged, 100% partisan. She's from down the road at Boca. Snerdley, what are you doing wearing the Malcolm X hat today? Oh, wait, okay, it's not a Malcolm X hat. When you turn to the side it's a Kangaroo hat. Okay, I thought it was a Malcolm X hat. That's true that our esteemed president, Pharaoh Obama, has departed Washington today. He's going to take part in the Reverend Sharpton's National Action Network convention.

Now, in 2008 Obama wanted nothing to do with Sharpton or the Reverend Jackson or any of them. But now, given where things are, Obama's gotta make amends here, gotta build bridges with people who are down for the struggle. He wants to put himself on the same side of things. So he's gonna go up there and he's gonna plan how they're gonna use race in the upcoming reelection campaign. (interruption) I know. With the shutdown looming, he said he was gonna be available today to talk to anybody but he's not. He's gonna assign members of his regime to talk to anybody who wants to come to the White House. He's off to New York to meet with the Reverend Sharpton on the verge of a shutdown. How many millions of dollars does Sharpton's group still owe in taxes? Maybe that's what Obama's doing. I thought Obama wanted to go after rich tax cheats. (imitating Obama) "Look, you gotta pay up before I can renew my relationship with you. We could be down for the struggle together."

Now, as of noon today, ladies and gentlemen, we're only 60 hours away from a government shutdown. CNN is even running a countdown clock at the bottom of their screen. The media is so excited. They're so excited. I was just watching Luke Russert on MSNBC. Folks, it's comical, for those of us who have been there, done that, for those of us who know the media like every square inch of my glorious naked body, and I do. I know it's frustrating, but it's predictable and it's comical. They are treating this as though a meteorite's gonna hit the earth, it's gonna be a nuclear disaster, a meltdown, it's the worst thing, and yet they can't wait for it to happen. And Luke Russert was saying, (paraphrasing) "Well, you know, obstacles, the shutdown, nobody knows what the Republican compromise number is." Now, the Democrats have the White House. The Democrats have the Senate. The Democrats have not produced a budget, period. We have not seen one proposal. They have not released a list of their proposed cuts. We don't have one thing from them on the budget, and yet the onus is on the Republicans to come up with a compromise number here. And if they don't come up with a compromise, well, then, everybody knows the shutdown's gonna get blamed on the Republicans.

However, I pointed out yesterday that the Washington Post seemed to be trying to warn Obama and the Democrats about the political risks of a shutdown because they had a poll that showed 37-37 blame. American people, 37% blame the Democrats; 37% blame the Republicans. Today State-Controlled Associated Press gets in on the action: "Government Shutdown Would Pose Big Risks To Both Parties -- Democrats and Republicans say the last thing they want to do is to shut down the government. But with budget talks showing little signs of a breakthrough, there are growing worries that a stalemate could hurt the economy's fragile recovery." That is just a flat-out lie. It is a flat-out crock. That is insulting, to suggest that the private sector economic recovery could be affected by a government shutdown. The government shuts down ten times a year. There are ten federal holidays. Some of them are ten days long. What's gonna happen here happens all the time. It just doesn't get reported as a shutdown every time it happens.

The government goes on vacation. They take the Easter break. They have the post-Easter break. They have the spring break. They have the Martin Luther King break. They have the Presidents Day break. They got more breaks than you and I combined. And in each one of them the government is shut down, essentially. It just isn't reported that way. But this is just too juicy. This is too big an opportunity. Blame it all on the Republicans. Go back to the same tired, worn-out tactics. You people at ABC Radio News, you know what I'm talking about. Have you heard your radio news at the top of the hour, how pathetic, a teacher and students who had long planned to go to Washington won't be able to go to the zoo and the museums and won't be able to pet the animals because the evil Republicans want to take Medicare away from senior citizens, have them die. Oh, yeah, that's the latest. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, this was yesterday, her reaction to Paul Ryan's budget.

SCHULTZ: We see a clear attempt for the government to back out of its commitment to seniors. As a result, many seniors in America will be forced into poverty, and worse, some seniors will end up dying because they are forced to put off getting that pain checked out due to huge out-of-pocket costs that will skyrocket for them. This Republican path to poverty is just wrong.

RUSH: Seniors will end up dying. The streets, ladies and gentlemen, will be littered with the corpses of seasoned citizens. This is like the good old days. This is exactly what they used to say. When did I make my GOPAC speech, 1994, 1995? This is hilarious. Back in 1994 the Republicans, of course, took over the House and the budget battle of 1995 is going on, the Democrats were saying the basic same stuff, extremist, gonna kill the elderly, gonna leave 'em dead to die on the streets, and I went to speak to GOPAC, and I opened up, said, "I want to welcome all of my fellow extremists as we sit here and plot the death of American seasoned citizens. And I just want to let you people know, I am taking it seriously. I went out and I bought my mother a brand-new can opener so she'll have no problem opening the dog food." Pat Schroeder goes to the floor of the House and makes a big speech suggesting that this is who they are, this is the Big Kahuna, the Big Kahuna Rush Limbaugh admits that he's gonna get his mother a can opener so she can easily eat the dog food. And then somebody said, "You know, that was a joke." She was profoundly embarrassed. They're just recycling it now.

Let me tell you something. Politico, are you listening? (laughing) More senior citizens will die from Obamacare than from any other government action in this country. More senior citizens will die due to health rationing of Obamacare than anything else that government does in its history, outside, of course, of the Civil War. It is Barack Obama himself conducting an ABC town hall way back, two years ago. Woman shows up and raises her hand, (paraphrasing) "Mr. Obama, I got a question." He says, "You may ask it." "My mother is 98 years old, needs a pacemaker. Her will to live is strong. She's perfectly fine except for the pacemaker. Will you permit --" you know, I'm cringing at that. Here we got a citizen asking the president, "Will you permit my mother to have a pacemaker?" and you know what Obama said? "Well, I don't think we can calculate spirit or will to live. Just give her a pill." So the leader of the regime says, "Give a pill, let 'em die."

There will be health rationing. Senior citizens, Paul Ryan is trying to save them. Paul Ryan is giving them an option to either stay in Medicare or join a pool in the private sector, whichever they can best afford, whatever they want to choose. It's called freedom of choice for their health care. It does not mandate they go before Obamacare death panels. And yet here's Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Republicans are gonna leave senior citizens as corpses in the streets. Some seniors will end up dying because they're forced to put off getting that pain checked out. So seniors are gonna sit around, they're gonna suffer pain, but they're not gonna be able to go to the doctor to get the pain checked out, and the pain's gonna be deadly, bam. There are corpses in the street. What's going to happen with Obamacare, they feel the pain, they go to the doctor, the doctor consults the regime, the regime says, "How old is this woman? Well, screw it, we're not gonna invest in making her well. She's only got five years to live anyway, so to hell with it. Give her a pill." That's what Debbie Wasserman Schultz is for. Here's a continuation of her reaction to Paul Ryan.

SCHULTZ: No longer would Medicare be a guarantee of health insurance coverage. Instead, Medicare would become little more than a discount card. This plan would literally be a death trap for some seniors.

RUSH: All right, so we're back at it, just recycling the whole thing. Republicans and their budget: a death trap for senior citizens. A death trap. (laughing) I'm sorry. I can't avoid laughing at this. Now, I know some of you hear this stuff and you just get livid and you get angry. I used to, too. And some days I still do. You see, I can't imagine people believing this. I know some people are going to. But at some point this stuff's all gonna catch up with them. You can't keep going back to the well. If the dead are gonna be in the streets, they better show up at some point. You're gonna say that a policy is gonna lead to senior citizen corpses in the streets, there had better be some, otherwise you have no credibility.

RUSH: You remember all the grief that Sarah Palin got talking about death panels in Obamacare. She was called a "fearmonger" and all that. Never mind that these so-called nonexistent death panels then were removed from Obamacare. Now, here comes Debbie Wasserman Schultz accusing the Republicans of killing senior citizens, and there is no outcry from anyone, anywhere, that is in any way similar to the outcry Sarah Palin got. That's another example of the blatant double standard which exists.

Here's the Patsy Schroeder sound bite. This is 1995 on the House floor, Pat Schroeder, Democrat congressperson from Colorado.

SCHROEDER: And they had the Big Kahuna of GOPAC come speak, none other than Rush Limbaugh himself, who stood there and said to all these people who paid all this money to keep GOPAC rich, he was hailing the GOP budget! He said, according to the paper and according to the C-SPAN tape, he thought it was wonderful because it would starve the poor and it would drive Medicare recipients, including his mother, to eat dog food, but not to worry, Mom, he says, I'm sending you a new can opener. Wow. That tells you what today's about.

RUSH: It's amazing how history repeats itself: 1995, 16 years ago, the Republicans had a budget, the Democrats react to it the same way. "It's going to kill old people." Now, there's a part of me asking, why does history keep repeating itself? How is it, you have to ask yourself, that the Democrats continue to get away with this? They got away with it in -- well, it's arguable -- they got away with it in '95 in the PR sense. They did not get away with it in '95 at the ballot box; Republicans won reelection in 1996. But they clearly won the PR battle. By winning the PR battle, they scared the hell out of the Republicans and made them timid, started to back off, their forcefulness declined a little bit. May not be that history repeats itself, but the hysteria surely does. It's the same thing. You might also say, "Well, Rush, the history's repeating itself. Back then, the Republicans were talking about the need to get the budget in balance." Well, that is always true. That's something that always has to be done.

You know, we had a bite earlier this week -- maybe latter part of last week -- talking about quick fixes. If we would've tried the quick fix 30 years ago, where would we be today? We wouldn't be in the mess that we're in today if we had stuck to what we started in 1995 when it came to balancing the budget. We wouldn't be where we are today. The problem is that between 1995 and now, we've had a bunch of Democrats in Congress, and we've had some spendthrift Republicans as well. The bottom line is that we're always gonna have people in Washington who are going to want to spend money because that's the ticket. That's the route to success. And it's all personal, in terms of their own career and their advancement. Spending money is one of the quickest ways to ingratiate yourself with people.

And you go talk to some elderly members of Congress about this health care bill and what it's gonna do to this country 10, 15 years down the road, and some of these members of the House and Senate who are in their seventies: "I don't care. I'm gonna be dead." That's really their attitude about it. Under Reagan and Bush, the Republicans had control of the White House and both houses of Congress -- how many old people died then? We can go back and count the numbers. How many old people died during the Reagan, Bush 1, and Bush 2 administrations? How many old people died because of the Republican budget every year? Answer: zero. And yet the same complaint, the same charge is made. And above all, most of all, you wonder about the idiots that hear it out there, average Americans who believe it, who buy into it.

RUSH: So back to your ABC News at the top of the hour, teacher and students who had long planned to come to Washington won't be able to go to the zoo and the museums, all because of the Republicans, all because of Paul Ryan. Now, you and I hear this, we ask ourselves, "Who in the world is going to believe this?" And then we see New Yorkers totally acquiescing with the notion that you can't buy a Happy Meal now because it's not nutritious enough. We see New Yorkers totally acquiescing with this silly notion of trans fat in the foods. We see it. Let me tell you something. If you are a teacher and you have a class that you are planning on taking to Washington, and you might not be able to see the cherry blossom parade or you might not be able to go to the Air and Space Museum, or you might not be able to go to the latest liberal art because the government's gonna shut down. You might not be able to go to the Washington Monument.

Let me tell you where you can go. Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. They take no government money. Go to Mount Vernon. Take your students to Mount Vernon. Look at the 16-sided barn. Take a look at George Washington's home where genuine American history was made. There is an educational center and a movie theater there that depicts aspects of George Washington and the founding of this country that you will not find in your own classroom, Mr. or Miss Teacher. And it's open 365 days a year. So you can't use the excuse of a government shutdown to not go out to Mount Vernon. A trip to Mount Vernon would be far more worthwhile than the cherry blossom parade anyway. And another added bonus, you will not find one stinking reporter at Mount Vernon because it's not gonna be shut down. So there are places to go in Washington, or the environs, if this shutdown actually happens, which I don't think is gonna happen. Go to the Mayflower Hotel. Ask to see Eliot Spitzer's room, Client No. 9, any number of things to do in Washington. Go see Wilbur Mills and Fanne Fox. Gary Hart(pence) and take your pick. Ask for the White House tour. Look for the study off the Oval Office. Obama's not there. Find remnants of Lewinsky era. The White House won't shut down. Mount Vernon, try it. Serious.

RUSH: We have another montage, this one from Rush Limbaugh: The Television Show, 1995. A number of Democrats and media people here. This is during the era of the government shutdown debate back in 1995 and the school lunch cuts. There never were any school lunch program cuts, but that didn't matter.

BARRETT: Why do the Republicans want to take apples and milk away from six year olds?

GEPHARDT: The Republicans are taking food out of the mouths of millions of needy and middle class children.

SCHROEDER: I also would like to speak to a moment about the mean-spiritedness I'm hearing about on the floor today.

WYNN: Once again, they're playing Robin Hood in reverse taking from the poor to give to the rich.

LEWIS: They're coming for our children. They're coming for the poor. They're coming for the sick, the elderly and the disabled.

RUSH: And we are coming for your elderly. Your elderly will die in the streets, corpses piling up because of the Republican budget.

RUSH: The EIB Network, El Rushbo, Barack Obama singing about his own plans, not Republican plans, Obama singing about his own plans because of his own death panels. The only senior citizens dead because of government action in this country will die because of Obamacare.

RUSH: By the way, if you are going to visit Washington and Mount Vernon, George Washington's home, stop by the NRA Museum and see the national firearms museum. You can see all of Charlton Heston's guns there. It's not far from Mount Vernon.

CALLER: And when I do drop dead out in front of my house, do I do it on general garbage pickup days, recyclables, or yard waste?

RUSH: Well, what were your options, again? Did you mention the garbage day pickup?

RUSH: Nah, recycling is a waste of money, waste of time. Just put yourself in a trash bag.

RUSH: Yeah, put yourself in a trash bag and put on the trash bag "Dead because of Republican budget cuts."

RUSH: In fact, you know what would be a great concession? Get some Hefty bags, have some printed on 'em "Dead because of Republican budget cuts." (laughing) Don't do this. The media will find -- (interruption) I mean just for your regular garbage, not for people, just for your regular garbage. You could do "this garbage due to Obama budget," or some such thing. Have fun with it. Anyway, yeah, I'd do the trash bag routine. You don't want to be incinerated out there, not in a public facility.

RUSH: Now, the real scandal, the dirty little secret here about the shutdown is -- in fact, somebody just sent me a picture. At the front door -- and I'm sure there are many doors to the Smithsonian -- a big sign: "Sorry. Because of the government shutdown we are not permitted to open today." The real scandal about the shutdown is that nobody -- oh, so that picture's from 1995. That Smithsonian picture is 1995. I'm sure they still got the sign, though, ready to hang in the front door. The real scandal about this is that nobody's gonna be shut down, or very few are gonna be shut down. There were -- let's see the number -- 2,748,000 plus civilian federal employees in the US as of January 2009. It's surely much higher after another year of Obama. But Reuters is reporting that should the government be shut down, 800,000 employees will be idled. Only 800,000 out of almost three million. And you know where they'll be, at the Washington Monument or at the cherry blossom parade, or other such places easily found by the media. That will be the criteria. (laughing)

Where can the media easily find evidence of the shutdown? Where can we find children crying over not being able to get in to see the Lincoln Memorial? Where can we find angry parents who have pictures of John Boehner with horns drawn on his head provided by the media? Does anybody notice when the government shuts down for the ten federal holidays we have every year? Do they notice when they shut down for snow days? In point of fact, there were government shutdowns every year that Jimmy Carter was president. They averaged 11 days each. There were six shutdowns during President Reagan's two terms. Did anybody notice? Media didn't even bother to report on it. But this shutdown, this, like the one in '95, will be because of the Republicans. And so that's why this one will be noticed and why all of the pain and the suffering and the tears will be noted because they will say that this one is the fault of the Republicans.

RUSH: Elaine in Emerald Isle, North Carolina. Hi, Elaine, great to have you with us.

CALLER: I'm a retired teacher, and I just wanted to address what you talked about in the first hour about teachers or people planning trips to Washington, and they were disappointed because nothing's gonna be open and all this because of the shutdown. That's when a good teacher, you know, makes it the best lesson she's ever had. You take the kids on a walking tour of Washington! You don't have to go in the bookstores and the gift shops and all these places. You can stand on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and give the best history lesson ever. You're looking out to the Reflecting Pool. To your left is the Vietnam Memorial. To your right is the Korean memorial. You're looking just past the World War II memorial to the Washington Monument.

CALLER: They can't close the streets and the sidewalks! You can walk past all these things. You don't have to go inside to the top of the Washington Monument. Yeah, you get a great view of Washington but you can still see the outside of all these monuments.

CALLER: You can take a walking tour. You want to see the cherry blossoms? Walk to the Jefferson Memorial. It's incredible. The walk is gorgeous and it's beautiful. You can have your own history lesson right there without going inside any of these places.

CALLER: Right! Exactly, exactly. Go to the National Cathedral. You know, we don't have to depend on the government to teach our kids history.

RUSH: Nope. Or go to the Arlington Cemetery. I know they're not gonna shut that down.

CALLER: Absolutely! Absolutely! The greatest place in Washington is Arlington because you've got history from every aspect. You know, it just galled me to hear somebody whining about something like that in Washington when they don't need those places to get educated.

RUSH: Well, that's because these are political pawns. This teacher is nothing more than a political pawn. "Yeah, they can't go on a tour of Washington. They can't go on a parade because the Republicans shut down the government," blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. No, Elaine, you're exactly right. Great call. Thanks very much. I appreciate it.

RUSH: We've been going back to the archives. If you're just joining us, we have been going back to the archives of previous programs as far back as 16 years ago to demonstrate the Democrat reaction to the new Republican budget that Paul Ryan presented yesterday. It's nothing new. They always claim that people are gonna die, old people, kids, whatever, Republican budgets kill people when in fact if anybody's gonna die because of government action in this country, it's gonna be because of Obamacare and death panels. Now, I want to take you back to June 24th, 2009, ABC had a primetime special, questions for the president, Prescription for America.

A member of the audience, Jane Sturm, had a question. She said, "My mother is now over 105. But at 100, the doctors said to her, 'I can't do anything more unless you have a pacemaker.' I said, 'Go for it.' She said, 'Go for it.' But the specialist said, 'No, she's too old.' But when the other specialist saw her and saw her joy of life, he said, 'I'm going for it.' That was over five years ago. ... Outside the medical criteria for prolonging life for somebody who is elderly, is there any --" keep in mind what we've got here. We have an American citizen asking the president of the United States, "-- is there any consideration that can be given for a certain spirit, a certain joy of living, a quality of life, or is it just a medical cutoff at a certain age?" She is asking Obama essentially whether or not under his plan, her mother would be allowed to live, would be allowed to get a pacemaker, because the government is going to have the power to decide whether or not her mother got one. Here's what Obama said.

OBAMA: I don't think that we can make judgments based on people's spirit. That would be a pretty subjective decision to be making. I think we have to have rules that say that we are going to provide good, quality care for all people. End-of-life care is one of the most difficult sets of decisions that we're going to have to make. But understand that those decisions are already being made in one way or another. If they're not being made under Medicare and Medicaid, they're being made by private insurers. At least we can let doctors know and your mom know that, you know what, maybe this isn't going to help. Maybe you're better off not having the surgery but taking the painkiller.

RUSH: There's Obama telling the woman basically, "Your mother, nah, her spirit, will to live, no, we can't factor that in. Give her a pain pill." Her mother dies because of Obama and his health care plan.

RUSH: If anybody dies because of government action in this country, it will not be because of Republican budgets. It will be because of Barack Obamacare, the health care law that is now the unconstitutional health law of the land.

What If Your Congressperson or President Saw a Disaster Coming and Did Nothing to Avoid It?

RUSH: All the news shows, ladies and gentlemen, are in a tizzy over the latest news here that a shutdown is coming. They're going completely hysterical over this government shutdown. They're all saying it looks inevitable now. And in listening to who will get hurt by the shutdown, CNN, for example, keeps putting nonessential government employees in scare quotes. Why the quotes? These workers are either nonessential or they aren't. And it's what the government is calling them. The government's calling them nonessential. CNN and the news media have all of this concern for people that work for government, who might be out of a paycheck for a while. But yet the government themselves, or itself, describes these people as nonessential. It's like newsrooms. You know, the media has taken a hard hit in the economic times that we've had. They've laid off a bunch of people but they've always said, "Don't worry, our journalism will not be affected. Only nonessential people have been cut." Well, that means they weren't needed in the first place. The product continues to be put out. The daily newspaper, the magazine, fewer people buying and reading them, but they're still putting them out.

The effort here on the part of the Democrats with all this so-called compassion is destructive. It's destroying people's lives. It's taking away parts of their humanity and their dignity. It's denying people the opportunity to be the best they can be. It's robbing them by creating dependency. It takes advantage of what the Democrats believe is a natural human characteristic, laziness, and exploiting that all for their own political gain. And now to talk about all these poor people are gonna die because health care coverage will be cut back, and all the sick people and the old people are gonna starve because of this, and yet we're just going back to 2008 spending levels, 2008 spending levels, by the way, authored by Democrats. They had it all. They wrote the budgets those years. CNN's also concerned that the Army might not get paid, concerned that people might have to wait longer to get their tax refund checks. When has CNN ever been concerned about the military being paid or people getting their money back from government? And, by the way, I think the military will get paid during a shutdown, and Social Security checks will go out during a shutdown.

You can go back to our archives and get the story detailing just exactly what continues to happen during a shutdown. Social Security checks will be mailed. They're working now on a stopgap measure to make sure the military gets paid during a government shutdown. The whole government shutdown is an intellectual exercise for the most part. We're simply talking about there not being exact amounts of dollars on hand to fund the government. The dirty, rotten truth is that we don't have the money to fund the government now. We're either printing it or borrowing it. And this is what Paul Ryan is trying to get his arms around and deal with seriously now.

RUSH: Here's Ryan this morning, part of his statement releasing the budget in Washington.

PAUL RYAN: For too long Washington has not been honest with the American people. Washington has been making empty promises to Americans from a government that is going broke. The nation's fiscal trajectory is simply not sustainable. The debt is projected to grow to truly catastrophic levels in the near future, leading to an economic collapse and a diminished future. We don't need clever politicians in Washington. We need real leadership and that is what we intend to provide. The president's recent budget proposal that he gave is worse than just a commitment to the status quo. The president actually accelerates our descent into a debt crisis. He doubles the debt by the end of his first term and triples the debt by the end of his budget.

RUSH: Exactly right. And of course this then makes people ask, "On purpose? Why would anybody do this knowingly? How could anybody do it knowingly?" And then you ask, how could anybody be this dumb? How could anybody be this incompetent? And so the question becomes, is it on purpose or is it just due to incompetence? It's tough because you don't think anybody could be this dumb and you don't think anybody we've elected president could be this incompetent, so then you say, "Well, okay, if it's on purpose, what is the purpose?" And that's where a lot of people don't want to go. They just don't want to go there. That's scary. If this doubling of the debt, if the destruction of the American economic engine, if it is being done on purpose, it's natural to say, "Why?" and people just don't want to go there 'cause they don't want to contemplate what it means because after you figure out what it means it's a call to action. You have to stop it. Remember it was Obama who promised a new era of fiscal responsibility. Look what we've gotten instead. One more from Ryan. This is, again, from his announcement. Here he is getting ahead of the conspiracy theorists.

PAUL RYAN: Let me ask anybody who is listening this, what if your congressman, your president saw it coming? What if they knew it was gonna happen, what if they knew why it was gonna happen, when it was gonna happen, what nature, and more importantly, what if they knew what could be done to prevent it from happening, and if they had time to prevent it, but they decided not to because it wasn't good politics? What would you think of your president, your member of Congress? Well, that is where we are right now. This is the most predictable economic crisis in our history, and what are we doing playing politics?

RUSH: Damn right. Great question . If you're president and saw it coming, you know it's coming, you know it's unsustainable, everybody involved, Harry Reid, Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, all of these people with the cliched 30-year-old objections, they all know where we're headed. They don't want to do anything about it. We are there right now. I love the way he puts this: The most predictable economic crisis in our history. There's no mystery about where we are headed. Even the socialists in Europe have figured it out. The socialists in Europe have learned that their way is unsustainable. It can't go on. How come Obama's not doing what they're doing in Europe? We're in the same boat. In Europe they're dialing it back. We're heading down the same tracks they have already been down. They're trying to reverse course.

Obama has to know, in answering Paul Ryan's question, what if they knew it was gonna happen, what if they knew why, when, what nature, what if they knew what could be done to prevent it? That's the question. Obama knows what needs to be done to prevent it. So does Bernie Sanders, so does Obama, so does Pelosi, so does Reid, so do all of them. They're not willing to do one thing to stop it. So the question, why? Flashes strobe light, big in front of your face. Why? What are we doing? Why do they not want to stop with what we are inexorably faced? That's the question people really do not want to hear the answer to.

RUSH: I went back to the archives. It's an AP story, February 25th. It was a Friday. "Psst. No Shutdown During a 'Government Shutdown.'" I have details coming up. There's also polling data here, Washington Post poll: "Voters still split on blame for possible shutdown." Thirty-seven to 34%, Republican-Democrat. In '95, Clinton had a clear lead in the blame game. It's pretty close. It's within the margin of error here. And, of course, doesn't matter to me, but this is the difference between being on the radio and acquiring and holding an audience and being an elected official trying to get votes. They have to be concerned about people who don't like 'em. I don't. People that don't like you will not vote for you. People that don't like you on the radio will listen to you. In fact, you gotta keep giving them reasons to hate you. That doesn't work in politics. But nevertheless, to hell with the poll, we gotta do what's right here. Heck with it. Leadership. Ryan's talking about it.

You know, some of the Tea Party freshmen -- I'm not gonna mention any names -- but I'm hearing from 'em. It's the same thing that happened in 1994. Snerdley, you remember Dick Chrysler? Dick Chrysler was a member of the freshman class of 1994. He came to my television show, and I remember when I went to the freshman orientation, he was gung-ho, from Michigan, and he was gung-ho. He was one of the 54 freshmen and they were stoked. They couldn't wait to get there. I said, "What are you gonna do?" He said, "This is what we're gonna do. We're gonna do X, Y, Z, A, B, and C," and it took about six months that he figured out it was his own leadership -- these are the Newt days, by the way, and that leadership back then was cool. The leadership of the '94-95 freshman class and the whole Republican conference, they were gung-ho. But even the freshmen that year learned that the Republican leadership was not as gung-ho as they were, and I forget what period of time, Chrysler and some of the other freshmen just went back home, said to heck with it. Sadly, I'm hearing some of the same complaints and laments. I talked to these guys before this session started. "What are you gonna do?" "Well, we're gonna go up there and we're gonna use leadership, we're gonna fix this, we're gonna turn this around," and now they're depressed, some of them are, that the leadership is not nearly as excited at fixing these things as some of the Tea Party freshmen were, and still are.

RUSH: No. What I was saying was, if I'm up there and I have said all I've said about the future of the country, this level of debt, this level of spending can't be supported, plus we all know what the purpose of this spending is for. There are efforts being made to totally restructure the way this country was founded. There are people who want this to become a full-fledged socialist country, where economic and individual liberty don't count. Everybody is a ward of the state, and the apparatchiks, the state process, they're the ones that have the riches, they're the ones that have the wealth, and they're the ones that have the power, and they're the ones that, put simply, get to boss everybody around. The country as we've known it can't be sustained.

So if I'm in Washington and I ran for election based on the premise that this has gotta stop and we have to reform and restructure the country and head it back in the direction the way it was founded, I wouldn't let some silly poll in a newspaper change my mind about it, such as a poll on who's gonna get blamed for a government shutdown, a shutdown that's not even really a shutdown in the first place. But I must be fair. One thing I do not lack is communication skills. I am able to face millions of people behind the microphone and tell 'em exactly what I believe without nerves, without having any compunction about it, and I'm not worried about what the press does to me. Now, also I have my own microphone I can go to if I am mischaracterized. People on our side -- and I'll tell you this, I've told you before -- one of the big excuses the Republicans always offer as to why they don't get into a PR battle is they said, "Well, we won't get covered. The press just won't cover what we say or if they do cover it, they will make it up, they'll impugn, they will not get it right, they'll make fun of us or be critical," or what have you. To which my reaction always is, "They do that anyway. That's gonna happen anyway, so why not continue to fall on the side of doing what's right?"

You know, we own the facts, we may not own the narrative. At some point we hope the facts overwhelm the narrative. They can with enough passion. Passion's the key to anything. So we got this Washington Post poll. "Voters Still Split on Blame for Possible Shutdown -- With a potential federal government shutdown closing in, the public remains split down the middle when it comes to which side it would blame for a work stoppage. In the poll, 37 percent say they would fault Obama ... The same number would blame the Republicans in Congress," 37-37. Now, the Washington Post poll does not give party affiliation. We don't know the breakdown of Republicans and Democrats in this poll. They do cite party trends, which, to me shows that this was skewed and that the pollsters are catching on. But I think, as I read this, 37-37 because Clinton in '95 had a huge advantage in the polls, there was no question that it was gonna be the Republicans blamed in '95.

The way I look at this is I think the Washington Post is sending a veiled warning to the Democrats to be careful here. That's the way I look at it. Notice also if you read the whole story that the poll pits the Republicans versus the sincere Mr. Obama. It does not ask for opinions about the motives of the Democrat Party in these negotiations. Why is that? It asks about the motives of the Republicans in shutting down the government but not the Democrats. I think there is an attempt here by the Washington Post to warn the Democrats about this, 37-37, that's not the way it ought to be. Any time the government gets shutdown it ought to be slam-dunk a majority blaming the Republicans, but not even the Washington Post can make that happen in their poll. I would also say it's probably not 37-37. It's probably structured in such a way so they could report it that way.

Let me grab a couple phone calls here before we resume with discussion to this. Sheridan in Phelan, California. Is that right, Phelan, California?

CALLER: Good, I had a thought about this shutdown thing, and if you think about it, they're off every weekend. They're off for about ten holidays a year --

RUSH: That's very true. Well, in fact, since you've mentioned that let me cite for you here, again, the AP story that ran on February 25th, his is the headline: "Psst. No Shutdown During a 'Government Shutdown' -- Social Security checks would still go out. Troops would remain at their posts. Furloughed federal workers probably would get paid, though not until later," which is what happened in the last shutdown. Not only did they get paid, they got their turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas. "And virtually every essential government agency, like the FBI, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard, would remain open," which is a direct contradiction of the lies that Reid and Pelosi, the rest of the Democrats have been spreading about a possible shutdown.

"That's the little-known truth about a government shutdown. The government doesn't shut down." Now, at the time, back on February 25th, we couldn't figure it out, why is the AP reporting this? What is this? And it had to be that even back then, the AP, the media knew that the Democrats might get blamed. There's only one reason to run a story like this. There's only one reason to run a story that says there's really no shutdown when the government shuts down, and that's to protect the Democrats or whoever's gonna get blamed for it. And then the AP says: "And it won't [shutdown] on March 5, even if the combatants on Capitol Hill can't resolve enough differences to pass a stopgap spending bill to fund the government while they hash out legislation to cover the last seven months of the budget year.

"Fewer than half of the 2.1 million federal workers subject to a shutdown would be forced off the job if the Obama administration followed the path taken by presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. And that's not counting 600,000 Postal Service employees or 1.6 million uniformed military personnel exempt from a shutdown." I remember saying back on February 25th, what is this? AP is tacitly admitting that it's actually the president who initiates these government shutdowns, path taken by Reagan, H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton. Why, they're even saying presidents cause these things.

AP: "So we're talking fewer than one in four federal workers staying at home. Many federal workers get paid on March 4, so it would take a two-week shutdown for them to see a delay in their paychecks. ... The air traffic control system, food inspection, Medicare, veterans' health care and many other essential government programs would run as usual. The Social Security Administration would not only send out benefits but would continue to take applications. The Postal Service, which is self-funded, would keep delivering the mail. Federal courts would remain open." The AP went to great efforts here, great lengths to assure everybody that a government shutdown is not a government shutdown. And as I say, the only reason for doing this is if their party looks like it's going to be blamed for it.

All right, Susan in Arlington, Virginia, I'm glad you waited. Great to have you with us on the EIB Network. Hi.

CALLER: You know, one of the significant components of Representative Ryan's budget is to repeal Obamacare.

CALLER: And I think he has effectively, intellectually and consistently argued as to what damage Obamacare can do to our country and to our budget. But I also want to add, let's go back to your discussion yesterday about McDonald's planning to fill, what, 50,000 slots --

CALLER: Right. Well, let's not forget, back in October of 2010, McDonald's received a waiver from Obamacare.

CALLER: So what does that tell us? You take the onerous burden of Obamacare off business, and you get jobs. You eliminate --

CALLER: -- Obamacare like Paul Ryan is suggesting, and it helps in our budget. He argues so effectively along these lines, and I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out what Dem or liberal could stand toe to toe with this guy and argue against him on the facts, and --

RUSH: They won't argue on the facts. They're using, as I point out, the 30-year-old cliches --

RUSH: -- of starving elderly people kicked out of their homes, no Social Security checks while the rich gets tax cuts. That's all they can do. They're not gonna take him on personally. He wants them attacking this stuff the way they always do. He's setting it up. He wants them to demagogue it. He said as much. He wants them to demagogue and distort this thing. He wants this to call them out. This McDonald's business, not only did it illustrate what you said, and that is grant a waiver from the Obama health care law, and they have money to go out and hire, what it also did was put the lie to the notion that they didn't provide health care for people. All this time people were thinking that fast food restaurants never provided health care for their employees. Those dirty, rotten creepy companies. And all of a sudden we learn that we were lied to about that. We learned that in order for them to stay open and continue to have hamburger-flipper jobs they had to get a waiver in order be able to provide the existing health care plans for their people.

So much of what we're told by the left or the media is an out-and-out lie. And also we pointed out yesterday -- Susan, I'm sure you recall this -- go back to the eighties or any time that there is a Republican president, and we're talking employment or unemployment. And if fast food restaurants start to hire, the left and the media say, "Well, big deal, they're dead-end hamburger-flipper jobs. Big deal. Those aren't real job jobs. You can't feed a family of four flipping burgers." So those jobs are always denigrated, ripped to shreds. But now that Obama is president and McDonald's announces a plan to hire 50,000 people in one day to work at McDonald's doing what? Flipping burgers. Why, all of a sudden those are great jobs. All of a sudden those are worthwhile, very solid, very important jobs. Those jobs indicate an economic recovery.

Folks, I cannot describe for you the level which I detest the people on the left and the lengths they go to shape public opinion in ways to try to get people to really hate this country and to hate success stories in this country. They do. You take a look at the Democrat Party's enemies list and it's practically anybody, individuals, corporations, small business, doesn't matter, who is successful and somehow they have ended up the enemy, they are the ones that have bull's-eye targets on the front and backs of their shirts.

CALLER: I've been trying to get a hold of you for years. I finally got through. I'm excited. I'm a little nervous, but I'll try to get my point across.

CALLER: Okay. Well, I was telling Snerdley, I really don't give a rat's behind if the government shuts down. It won't affect me in the least and it's not really gonna shut down anyway. I'm so weary of these lily-livered, spineless jackasses running our country. They're doing it on purpose. I know they're doing it on purpose, and you know, when are people gonna get their heads out of their butts --

CALLER: Because you can't be that stupid. I think somebody else is running the whole show anyway. I think he's just a puppet. I think they're all just puppets. I just wish they would get their heads out of their butts --

RUSH: Okay, so let me explore something with you. I'm not disagreeing, I'm not challenging, don't misunderstand my tone here.

RUSH: I want to know what you really think. Do you think, for example, that it doesn't matter who is elected president, that there is somebody or some group of people that gives the president the agenda, marching orders --

CALLER: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No. Not everybody. This one in particular. And I've suspected it since he was running, before he even got elected.

CALLER: I mean, you know, it's just a train wreck and they better man up. I mean they're a bunch of cowards up there in DC. I mean we voted you guys in, didn't we? And we can get you out just as easily with our votes.

RUSH: Now, wait just a second, let's explore this. If George Soros is the puppet master of Barack Obama, that's a pretty powerful guy. Who's to say that Soros doesn't have the ability to instill similar control or fear in other Washington people, House Republicans, Senate Republicans, who's to say that his only puppet is Obama?

CALLER: Well, judging by what's up there right now and they don't have any cojones, it's very possibly could do it to them too. I wish they'd get somebody in there who would just say, "Screw you, I'm doing it my way and I'm gonna do it for my country." I mean shoot, I got more cojones than these people do. I'm a Navy brat. My father was a lifer in the Navy. I was raised to work hard, American dream, whole shebang. I'm running an orphanage by myself --

RUSH: But when I hear these theories, I try to visualize them in action. Okay, here's Soros. Soros a puppet master. Visualizing it. Calls Obama, he sends him e-mails, emissaries, how does it happen? I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just sharing with you now, how does it happen and why does Obama let it happen? Soros put him there, Obama's nothing without Soros? What does Soros have on Obama that would make Obama go along with what Soros wants, or do Obama and Soros both agree intellectually with what's happening? These are the questions I ask when I hear people think that this kind of thing happens. And if Soros has this kind of sway over one guy, why does it stop with just one guy, Obama? Why not others?

RUSH: Paul Ryan, by the way, we've got more audio coming up of him, is also mentioning that there's a morality to the budget plan that he has presented today in that he sees the need to fight a moral decline that is taking place in the country. The moral decline defined as dependency and passivity. Both those things weaken the country. Now, to you and I, this is nothing new. You and I for the last 25 years, probably all of our lives, folks, have lamented, understood what dependency does and you look at the food stamp numbers that we had yesterday, food stamp participation is at an all-time high. The number of people working for government is dwarfing the numbers of Americans working in production, in manufacturing. It's a two-to-one ratio in that regard. But you and I have always known, we've always felt that it's the exact opposite of compassion to create dependency among our fellow citizens.

I've never forgotten Jack Kemp saying the way we define compassion is not by adding up how many people receive government benefits, but rather tallying the numbers of those who no longer need them. The Democrat Party is not interested in that definition of compassion. The Democrat Party wants more and more people dependent. The Democrat Party has a condescending view of the average person, the average human being as incompetent and incapable, not very smart, needs the government protecting them at every phase of their life. And in so doing, create this dependency on the Democrat Party, not on the United States. The creation of dependency is on the Democrat Party. If you look at all these Democrat social programs, forget the good intentions, that's how they wish to be judged. Instead, look at the results. That's one of the things that Ryan is attacking in his budget.

What good does it do, the recipients of your largesse, if the end result is to break up your family? If the federal government becomes the husband, freeing the husband from any responsibilities, run around living his life however he chooses without meeting any of these responsibilities, what good is that doing anybody? The old AFDC argument. It's not doing anybody any good. And the very people who are the targets of all this assistance are the ones who end up being irreparably harmed. We've had the war on poverty; the percentages of people in poverty have not changed. No social program that the Democrats have undertaken that now comprise the vaunted so-called social safety net, have actually worked. They have done great harm and this is what Ryan is saying.

RUSH: A couple more sound bites here from Mr. Ryan, again going back to CNBC on Squawk Box, Becky Quick and Joe Kernen. Joe Kernen says, "Congressman Ryan, the idea of public unions sort of electing all the state and local officials, that was good, but now to have the public unions actually controlling who's on the Supreme Court, there's a whole new form of government we're seeing potentially." I think he's talking about what's going on in Wisconsin today.

PAUL RYAN: Look, what I see happening systematically across government is a different philosophy that is contrary to the American idea of our founding principles. And it is systematic replacement of the rule of law with the rule of man, where you have unelected bureaucrats running government, running society. That is not what we want to do. We want to get back to those core founding ideals. We want to get back to limited government, economic freedom. We believe in the principles of liberty, of self-sufficiency, of individualism. We believe that it's important to get this country back on the right track so we can grow and prosper.

RUSH: You start talking about individualism, rugged individuality to a liberal and it's like showing Dracula a cross. That is just a huge insult. You go back to the days where homelessness was a front-and-center issue every day, and somebody would suggest, "Well, maybe they should just think about getting a job." And the typical liberal response, "Well, easy for you to say." "Well, yeah, I mean that's the solution. The best welfare program there is, in fact, a job." You know, jobs are how people define themselves. The liberals speak of jobs as if there's something corrupt about a job. Oh, easy for you to say. Meaning it's easy for people who have a job to talk about it but you go try to get one. Well, imagine if everybody had the attitude that the left has about jobs, that they're impossible to get, you shouldn't focus on that, instead focus on the government taking care of you. What if everybody just checked out? And the reason most Americans don't is because of self-worth, a desire to have dignity and meaning in your life.

Work is where you accomplish things. Work is where achievement is noted. Work is where progress takes place. Work is what makes everything else possible. It's a dirty word to the American left. As long as one person doesn't have a job it's not fair that somebody else does, and that's true across the spectrum. If somebody has a hundred thousand dollars, it's not fair that somebody else only has 50. And every decision they make is always in favor of the lesser, or the less. And everybody must be dumbed down or everybody must be reduced. The left never wants to improve people's lot in life in order to make things fair and equal. What they want to do is lower the achievers so that there's less of a gap.

I mentioned this last week; 6 pages of Obamacare bill results in hundreds of pages of regulations:

Since there are some links you may want to go back to from time-to-time, I am going to begin a list of them here. This will be a list to which I will add links each week.

Translating Jihad. What is broadcast in the Arabic is one thing; and how it is said in English is something entirely different:

The right weather underground (blog, with some emphasis upon the phony green agenda).

The Other Half of History (the history which is ignored in the modern classroom):

Liberty’s Army (mostly economic and middle eastern revolutionary news right now):

The Iowahawk, which is a blog, at times, heavy with stats, and at other times, it is hard to tell:

In case you want to refer others to this; statistical comparison between gays and straights:

Meadia Research Center where the bias of mainstream news is exposed again and again.

Stuff you probably did not know about greenhouse gases (this is a good link for friends):

The Top 100 Effects of Global Warming (I am fairly certain that this is serious; but it is really hard to tell). It is saying goodbye to French Wines, glaciers, guacamole, mixed nuts, French fries, baseball and Christmas trees and saying hello to cannibalistic polar bears, jellyfish attacks, giant squid attacks, more stray kittens, suffocating lemmings, burning cow poop and acidic oceans.

Comprehensive List of Tax Hikes in Obamacare (this includes individual health insurance costing as much as $695/month by 2016—which is not the only cost):

The Publius Forum (more of a newscast than a blog; located in Chicago, I believe):

Political Affairs, which used to be called the Communist (in case you are interested in what the Democratic Par, I mean, the communist party is up to.

This is one of my favorite lists; this is a list of things which global warming causes (right now, it causes over 800 things—most of these are linked):

100 things we can say goodbye to (or, hello to) because of Global Warming (all of these are linked). They are very serious about these things, by the way:

Conservative blog, but with an eye to the culture and pop culture (there is a lot of stuff here):

Conservative and pop culture blog (last I looked, there were some Beatles’ performances here):

Send this link to the young people you know (try the debt quiz; I only got 6 out of 10 right):

PA Pundits, whose motto is, “the relentless pursuit of common sense” (I used many of the quotations which they gathered)

The anti-Jihad resistence (which appears to be a set of links to similar websites):

Mostly a liberal blogger, who says vicious things about most conservatives; and yet, says something sensible, e.g. posting many of the things which the healthcare bill does to us.

News Organization (I mention them because I have seen 2 honest stories on their website, which shocked and surprised me):

Even though this group leans left, if you need to know what happened each day, and you are a busy person, here is where you can find the day’s news given in 100 seconds:

Weatherman Underground 1969 “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”

Janine Turner’s website (I’m serious; and the website is serious too). This is if you have an interest in real American history:

Judith Miller is one of the moderate and fairly level-headed voices for FoxNews:

This is an odd blog; conservativism, bikinis and whatever else posted by either a P.I. or the brother of a P.I.:

Info Wars, because there is a war on for your mind (this site may be a little crazy??):

The Magic Negro Watch (this is peppered with obscenities and angry conservative rhetoric):

Do you want to watch what is happening on our border? These are actual videos of observations cams along the border:

No matter what your political stripe, you will like this; evaluate your Congressman or Senator on the issues:

AC/DC economics (start with the oldest lessons first; economics in 60 second bites):

The Freedom Project (most a conservative news and opinion site which appears to concentrate on matters financial)

This appears to be a daily pork report, apparently as pork in Washington bills is discovered, it gets posted at Tom Coburg’s website:

Weekly poll, asking you to identify what we ought to cut in governmental spending:

This is an interesting site; it seems to be devoted to the debate of climate change:

This is indispensable: the Wall Street Journal’s guide to Obama-care (all of their pertinent articles arranged by date—send one a day to your liberal friends):

Obamacare class action suit (as of today, joining in on the suit costs you whatever you want to donate, if I understand the form correctly):

A Muslim apologetic site (they will write out letters to express your feelings, and all you have to do is sign them, and they will send them on):

Since this will be with us for a long time, the timeline of the BP gulf oil spill:

This is cool: a continuous timeline of the spill, with the daily info and the expansion of the oil, and the response:

Army Ranger Michael Behenna sentenced to 25 years in prison for 25 years for shooting Al Qaeda operative

Maybe the White House does not need to hold press conferences? It releases exclusive articles daily right here:

This is quite helpful; it is a list of all leftist groups, with links to background information on each of these groups (when I checked, 879 groups were listed). This is a fantastic resource.

In case you need to reference this, here are the photos of all those on the JournoList:

Are you tired of all the unfocused news and lame talking heads yelling at one another? Just grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and see what is really going on in the world:

Conservative New Media (it is so-so; I must admit to getting tired of seeing the interviewer high-fiving Carly Fiorina 3 or 4 times during an interview):

One of the more radical people from the right, calling for the impeachment of Obama:

The Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a free enterprise site (there are several videos on the flat tax):

This is a pretty radical site which alleges that Obama is a Marxist hell-bent in taking over our country:

1982 interview with Larry Grathwohl on Ayers' plan for American re-education camps and the need to kill millions

This is a news site which I just discovered; they gave 3 minute coverage to Obama’s healthcare summit and seemed to give a pretty decent overall view of it, without slanting one way or the other:

I have glanced through their website and it seems to be quite professional and reasonable. They have apparently been around since 1942.

This is fantastic; Florida (the Sunshine State) is now putting its state budget online:

Suzanne Somers s supposed to be older than Bill O’Reilly? He interviewed her this week, and she looked, well, hot. She is big into vitamins and human growth hormones.

The National Journal, which is a political journal (which, at first glance, seems to be pretty even-handed):

And I am hoping that most people see this as non-partisan: Citizens Against Government Waste:

This website reveals a lot of information about politicians and their relationship to money. You can find out, among other things, how many earmarks that Harry Reid has been responsible for in any given year; or how much an individual Congressman’s wealth has increased or decreased since taking office.

This is an outstanding website which tells the truth about Obama-care and about what the mainstream media is hiding from you:

Politico.com is a fairly neutral site (or, at the very worst, just a little left of center). They have very good informative videos at:

On Obama (if you have not visited this site, you need to check it out). He is selling a DVD on this site as well called Media Malpractice; I have not viewed it yet, except pieces which I have seen played on tv and on the internet. It looks pretty good to me.

We watch FOX so you don't have to). Be clear on this; they do not want you to watch FoxNews.

Conservative Review
Issue #173	Kukis Digests and Opines on this Week’s News and Views	April 10, 2011